Immortals
by Saberpoint
Summary: An human finally tired of earth exiles himself to a planet far, far, far away. His life as a hermit soon ends when he discovers an alien race. Fascinated by the discovery, he sets out to become a member of their clan. To learn their ways, to renew his passion for discovery, to make new friends and to enjoy a life worth living. (Intended Future MaleHumanxFemalePred)
1. Starry Night

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with other.**

**A/N: This story has been edited for grammar, spelling and content 1/1/2015.**

Chapter 1: Starry Night

Stars are an interesting thing. Go, look up at the night sky. They fill mankind's mind with so many thoughts across the ages. At first superstition, mythology, imagination and wonder. They inspired mankind with stories of forces beyond their comprehension, used them to explain the natural world and gave them hope that a soul lived forever. Then observation and understanding, thus leading to navigation and exploration. With the heavenly bodies movements documented, mapped and named, mankind was able to navigate their lands and oceans. The burning lights in the dark guiding them to new lands and discoveries.

Now, just before the start of the next millennium of human civilization, stars represented adventure and expansion. The phrase 'shoot for the stars' became literal as mankind no longer needed to explore the universe through a telescope. Ships in the thousands cared the living creatures of earth beyond their original home out into the universe. Colonizing new worlds, discovering new pools of resources and further expanding humanity's knowledge of the universe.

For one human in particular the stars now represented escape. Boarding a ship alone with no real direction, they pointed at a spot of light and engaged the engines. The journey took over several centuries. The ship was falling apart underneath their feet from age. Finally crash landing on this habitable planet.

The stars were beautiful that night. They didn't know any of their names or even if they had been named yet. After living on earth for so long looking up at the night sky they would automatically look for a familiar constellation. Orion, the Ursa Major, Draco or maybe Aquarius. However, none of these groups of stars where in the sky above them. That gave a strange amount of comfort.

They had named some, using them for navigation as their electronics and technology ran out of power or fallen into disrepair. It had been a long time since they had only relied on the stars and their creator to guide their path. There was a blue star they had named 'behemoth' because it was the brightest and largest star. A line of seven stars above the southern horizon he called the 'lance'. A group of five stars that appeared just before dawn reminded them of a fish, deciding to call the constellation 'salmon'. However, right now it was a small constellation of 4 stars that held their attention. They'd called these four 'compass', they were almost evenly spaced from each other and were relatively close to the vertical axis of the planets rotation. They had been following them now for the past several months, giving them a direction for their path.

Without direction and purpose they tended to wander in circles. With a direction and no purpose they just wandered, it was enough for them to keep living.

They were in a good mood, as they watched the heavens turn around them, until one of the stars blinked out. Their eye was drawn to the sudden void in the night sky. They checked the surrounding stars for placement then looking at the void. One of their stars had just disappeared. They're mood slumped, something as long lived as a star had died that night.

They sighed closing their eyes. It was a quiet night. The wind wasn't blowing so the tall grass they were laying in didn't make a noise. No wild animals were about lurking for a late dinner. Not even an insect chirped or buzzed. The only audible noise was breathing from a lone human. The calm made their breathing slow, their mind became still, their consciousness slip to black.

Unfortunately, the chaotic universe decided roll the dice.

The hangar bay was abuzz with chatter as a ship was prepped for departure. One could have almost guessed that the entire station was there for the sendoff. As per tradition of their culture it was time for a group of unblooded to prove themselves. All of them had been trained by the best, all had been succeeded in surpassing the station's expectations and all were destined become leaders. All of them sons or daughters of leaders at the highest levels of their society.

It was easy to spot the farewell committee as bearers and sires stood proudly patting their children on the shoulder. Even with the small possibility that some might not make it back alive it was a joyful sendoff. However, closest to the gangway stood a figure of tremendous power. The clan matriarch of the entire station saying farewell to her only daughter and heir.

The clan matriarch stood just under nine feet tall, towering over everyone in the hanger bay. Her body was a pillar of strength and power while remaining still beautiful and feminine. The silver colored armor she wore was heavily worn and scarred but shone with a bright luster. It was decorated with feather, scale, horn, fang and talon of her many kills from her helm to her saddles. Bright jewels were inlaid into her gauntlets and breast plate. The mask strapped to her belt bore that handy work of a master craftsmen with detailed engravings of great beasts. She held their family's ancestral war spear in her left hand, painstakingly scribed with runes telling of battles won long ago. Her right hand rested on her daughter's shoulder.

Her daughter was a younger and shorter image of herself. Her body stood strong while holding the deadly grace and energy of youth. Her silver armor was new with no tarnish or scars of battle. There were few things that accessorized her armor, as her adventures were few and kills fewer. The only jewel decorating her armor was one shaped in her family's crest. Worn proudly at the center of her breastplate. The only weapons she had was her blade gauntlets on both arms with a combi-stick on her back and two smart-discs on her belt.

"My daughter, you have passed all the trials and rights that our ancestors have required. Now you must pass one last test, to prove you are ready to share the mantle of clan." The matriarch lifted the ancestral staff in her left hand bring it back down with weighted thud. "Your noble heart pumps the powerful blood of our family line. You will come back in victory."

"Yes, my bearer," her daughter bowed her head in respect. Still bowed the matriarch leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"I expect you to come back with nothing less than a queen's skull on your shoulders." Her daughter's face turned up to be the proud smile of her bearer.

"Only one?" returning the smile in kind as she answered back. The two females shared eye contact before belted out in roaring laughter. A warrior at the top of the gangway called out that it was time to go. As the families gave one last hug and piece of advice to their departing member.

"Be careful, my daughter."

"Live long, my bearer." With that the daughter placed the mask on her face giving one last bow before heading up the ramp. The nine other unblooded followed giving on last wave before disappearing into the ship. The gangway slowly retracted into the ship as the hatch began to close. The matriarch stood proud as her eyes darted between port holes looking for one last glimpse of her daughter. Finally, her eyes found her daughter. She could tell her daughter was smiling wildly with excitement behind the stoic mask.

"My love, be still. You will see her again," the matriarch did not look to who spoke to her. She now noticed that she was trembling from what she didn't want to acknowledge. Excitement, joy, pride... no, all these feelings she expressed freely. Under her happy disguise, deep down she was terrified.

"My mate, she is my only daughter among the sixty sons I've beared."

"I know, I know," her husband said softly, "but know she is your mirror imagine. She will not fail in her Kainde Amedha Chiva."

"Yes," the matriarch said softly. A small grin formed at the corner of her mouth, "but she has your habit of getting into trouble."

"Then it's good thing she also has my charm to get her out of trouble." The comment sat on the air for a long while before any reaction came from the matriarch.

"I'd say it's your charm that gets you in trouble half the time," she chuckled as her mate joined her. Her laughter faded and a stoic face of a leader reemerged as her mate carried on chuckling. The matriarch turned to leave, but before she did she stood very close to her mate. Looking straight ahead, not looking down at the smaller male. She whispered in a low voice, "like how much trouble you're in when you come to bed tonight."

Her mate's laughter promptly stopped as he started to break into a nervous sweat with a happy smile. The matriarch smelling the perspiration rundown his face. She kept the stoic mask of a leader while smiling mischievously on the inside as she marched away. The male stood there looking out the bay doors as he saw the last glint of the ship carrying their daughter off toward her hunt. "She'll come back safely," he thought to himself, "real questions is if I'll be here to greet her."

The ship caring the ten unblooded arching gently as the pilots put it on course to their destination. The peaceful exterior of the craft betrayed the truly chaotic and rambunctious inside. The unblooded where bouncing of the walls in excitement. Hooting and yelling at the top of their lungs. However, one remained ever stoic even in this atmosphere, the mask over her face helping tremendously to hide her excitement; her bearer had trained her well.

As she watched the station disappeared into the black. She leaned back in her seat looking ahead. She needed to sleep, it was a long journey to the hunting ground and she needed to conserve all of her energy. Concentrating she slowed her heart beat taking deep breaths. Putting in some ear plugs the noise of her fellow unblooded disappeared. Through years of meditation serenity came. Her breathing slowed, her mind was at peace, her consciousness slip to black.

Unfortunately, the chaotic universe decided roll the dice.

**A/N: Hope whoever reads this has more knowledge about the Predator universe because I could use some help. I've read a few of the fics in the fandom and I've enjoyed a lot of them. However, even after that I can't figure out how authors name their characters. I know some of them are supposed to portray some sort of meaning, but to me a name is usually just a name. So do to my lack of competence in the field of Yautja names I'm asking to whoever is reading this to throw out some suggestions. I need about six to begin with; two feminine and four masculine. (FYI, the six names are all for the unblooded, matriarch daughter included. I'm not naming the matriarch or her husband yet, but you're welcome to suggest names for them as well.) So if you want to name a character in my story, please leave a comment or PM me. I doubt I'll start writing my next chapter until I've come up with some names.**

**Anyways, story has a mellow start, but it's going to pick up really quickly and earn that M rating. Grammar and spelling criticism is welcome as well as criticism about anything wrong with my Yautja society. Hope you enjoyed and I'll be seeing you all next chapter. Until then, Peace.**

**A/N 1/1/2015: Thank you to Khalthar and other readers who have PMed me or have made comments regarding grammar and content it's really helped.**


	2. Crash

**A/N: Well here is chapter two. One thing I've found about Predator fictions is that some authors liked using the Yautja language. While it makes the reading more interesting it doesn't usually help the reader know what they're talking about unless they are a hardcore fan. Which I have to say I am not. So for those of you like me who are like... "What the hell is a dah'kte?"... in the middle of a story. Some of the words though are blatantly simple to translate, mostly their expletives. Anyways, here are some Yaujta words I'll be using this chapter to hopefully lessen the confusion.**

**Kainde Amedha Chiva - hard meat hunt**

**kiandi amedha – hard meat, xenomorph**

**Chiva - hunt**

**C'jit - shit**

**nok – unit of measure (13 inches)**

**dah'kte – wrist blades.**

**Akrei-non – bomb or explosive**

**sivk'va-tai - plasma caster/cannon**

**Paya – Gods as a whole**

**Lilka - Refered to as 'The Goddess', Goddess of home, hearth, and Life**

**Cetanu – God of Death, the Black Hunter**

**kcud – looked for a Yaujta animal that was weak, didn't find one so "kcud" is "duck" spelled backwards, whatever.**

**Well that's it for now. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with other.**

**A/N2: Edited for grammar, word usage and content 3/1/15. For full commentary on edits check out the beginning of Chapter 3. If you're a first time reader you don't need to worry about missing anything and enjoy the story.**

Chapter 2: Crash

After their departure the unblooded Yautja settle down for the long voyage. While many stayed in the lounge area talking to each other a few journeyed to other parts of the vessel. Couple went to the armory to spar or maintain their weapons. Others went to the data core where they review the data on the planet they would be landing on. Many still had too much adrenaline pumping through their system to get any rest. One though was successful in finding the way to unconsciousness. One of their fellow unblooded noticed this with a mischievous grin. With extreme care they crossed the lounge area as quietly as possible as to not disrupt the sleeping target.

"Don't even think about it Hehtk'eki," the once sleeping Yautja growled.

"Jeez, you're no fun Ja'anya. For once, I'd like to catch you unprepared." Hehtk'eki gave a frustrated sigh and flopped in the seat across from Ja'anya.

"How did you know it was me?"

"You're the only one who would be stupid enough to try."

"Not stupid," Hehtk'eki clarified, "brave enough. Seriously everyone believes you're the perfect hunter, warrior, female, everything! I'm just waiting for the day when I can catch you in that imperfect moment."

"I know I'm not perfect. I have my flaws and weaknesses just like everybody else. I just do a good job working to overcome them."

"Jeez, and humble. You're sure your bearer is the Clan Matriarch? At this point you were a daughter of Lilka."

"If I am indeed a demigod I'm not yet aware of my divinity. Though my abilities and conquests thus far have been blessed by Paya I did not inherit Lilka's beauty like you have." Looking at the two female Yautja there was quite a bit of difference in their physical appearance.

Ja'anya like her mother, the Clan Matriarch, portrayed enormous amounts of strength. She didn't have an ounce of fat on her, the muscles on her arms, legs and abdomen had defined lines distinguishing one muscle from another. Her shoulders were just a little wider than her hips, giving her a rather masculine appearance. The Yautja species as a whole had very little body fat due to their diet, active lifestyle and millennia's of only the strong reproducing to where undesired genetic traits were practically removed from the gene pool. Ja'anya had a smooth forehead with small serrated ridge in the middle, ending in a point about the center. Small horns pointing away and up sprouted around the fringe above her hair tendrils. Both the serrated ridge and fringe horns characteristics of her heritage. The only defined female aspect she showed was having larger mandibles and higher cheekbones than her male counterparts. The tendrils coming out below her fringe we decorated with silver bands scribed with blessings of stealth, courage, strength and wisdom in battle. The first tendril on her right side had bands describing her clan, family, heritage and status with several empty spots for when she earned the rank of warrior or higher.

The only tenderness in Ja'anya's body was her thick skin that only softened her features slightly. Her skin pattern was mostly a brown-green color with darker brown splotches outlined in white randomly running across her body. Once when she was a pup, an older male once compared her pattern to a gecko. Thinking a gecko was fierce predator on a far off planet she took the comment as a compliment. After discovering a gecko was a small lizard-like creature that was considered a pet and practically harmless, she broke the male's arms in four places. Her armor was in a word was effective, offering the maximum amount of protection while not sacrificing mobility.

Hehtk'eki portrayed the ideal of Yaujta feminine beauty for their age. While Ja'anya demonstrated female strength, Hehtk'eki portrayed female grace. Her hips were wider than her shoulders with a gentle hourglass curve in her waist before arching up into her ribs. She did not have the muscle mass her fellow clan sister, but she was no pushover as she had defined lithe arms, legs and abdomen. What little 'chub' they did have at their age went straight to their posterior. Hehtk'eki hindquarter was succulently rounded, which gained her attention and envy among her young peers. Her skin was a brown-red color with dark maroon strips extending outward from her spine, giving her a tiger like appearance. Like Ja'anya she had a smooth forehead, large mandibles and high cheekbones. However she a smooth fringe and no center ridge without any hierarchy blood in her veins. Her dreadlocks were free, spinning around her as she moved decorated with silver cord that matched her armor. Her armor was significantly less that Ja'anya's. Hehtk'eki preferred tactics relied heavily on speed and agility which left her armor preferences to be at the bear minimum.

Neither of them had yet to develop mammary glands as they had never become pregnant, it was an odd characteristic among their species. When Paya creating their species they meant them to be very adaptable. Some growing to the size of giants, other adapting to colder climates or having skin that helped camouflaged them in a particular environment. So when their female ancestors did not develop mammary glands until motherhood they took it as the Goddess weaving something special into their blood. Of course, once they did become bearers they made up for lack of breast in their normal development with a vengeance. In their younger years the females would appear similar to males. The only way to identify them were slight differences that could only be observed in close proximity, hearing their voice, scent or having their genitals on display. Females where larger than males, but a young female could be confused for an older male. So size was not always the best way to tell the gender. During mating season it was easy to differentiate the genders. The two sexes produced contrasting pheromones, avoiding any 'awkward' discoveries in the bedroom. Males were obviously more attracted to older bread females due to the presence of breasts, causing younger females who had yet to develop this asset to be more aggressive in pursuing mates. Ja'anya and Hehtk'eki though didn't need or want to worry about attracting males or bearing cubs this early in their lives.

"I may the blessing of youthful beauty bestowed upon me, but Paya will be sure to gift you with the same endowment as your bearer," Hehtk'eki responded to Ja'anya's compliment.

"Your bearer's endowment is not something to scoff at either. You will have no problems attracting males after your first pup." The two females paused before breaking out into laughter. They were on their kiandi amedha chiva and they were taking about pups. The conversation shifted from the present topic to the subject of the chiva. Both were skilled and knew that they would succeed in their endeavor the only thing that needed to be discussed was how to get to the queen. The planet they were traveling to have several different hives, some of which were at war with one another. Those hives produced several of more dangers kiandi amedhas like the Praetorian, Crushers and warriors instead of the standard drone. There was also a report that one of the scouts didn't return so the prospect of a kiandi amedha yautja abomination was also possible. The scouts that did return mapped several hives, that didn't mean things were still the same. New passages could have been created, entrances closed off or rooms shifted. The kiandi amedha known for their viciousness and overwhelming numbers, but they did have a certain level of intelligence. For drones and warriors it was fairly low, however under the command of a praetorian or queen they could be used in cunning strategies. They were discussing plans in combating a praetorian in closes quarters when a pilot came over the intercom.

"Guardian Yik'ak please come to the cockpit." The role of Guardian in the kainde amedha chiva was filled by an elder, elite warrior or arbitrator who had proven more than capable to overcome any challenge. They were not to interfere or help the unblooded in any way during the chiva. As a Guardian it was their responsibility to clean up after the unblooded if they made any mistakes, to insure the honor of the chiva was maintained and the solemn duty to report to the family if their pup died. Yik'ak was a legend among many of the clans for his role in capturing an empress kiandi amedha. He was well desired as a breeder for this accomplishment and many other feats of skill.

"You summoned me," Yik'ak said as he entered the cockpit.

"Yes we've lost communications with the clan station. There is some ion activity coming from one of the nearby solar systems that is interfering with the ships systems however that isn't the reason I called you here," the pilot swiveled around to walk over to a navigation screen pointing to several coordinates on the chart. "What do you make of this?" Yik'ak looked at the chart scrolling to several of the coordinates the pilot had notated.

"I don't know it's like..." Yik'ak stood back regarding the screen. He wasn't a scientist by he understood enough about how the universe worked and what he was looking didn't make sense. "It's like," he zoomed out to get a better overall view, then it dawned on him, "...it's a trap! Change course immediately, get us out of the ion storm as fast as possible." The pilot jumped back to his chair pulling hard on the controls to change course. He engaged the afterburners on the engines as they increased speed. Then suddenly all the warning lights went off at once.

"PROXIMITY ALARM! THEY'VE GOT WEAPONS LOCK!" The pilot yelled. Yik'ak quickly made is way over the to the control console punching the general alarm and picking up the intercom microphone.

"Everyone strap yourselves in, we've got a problem," Yik'ak put the microphone back down. "Who are they?"

"Don't know, can't get an identification on the ship. Did we piss off another clan recently?"

"Not that I'm aware of, have you sent the emergency beacon?"

"They're jamming us, it wouldn't do any good and this tub doesn't even have weapons. C'jit they're firing."

Hehtk'eki and Ja'anya had their seat straps on and where trying to figure out what was going on. Watching the port-hole they could see that they had shifted course and increased speed, but they still didn't know why. As if to clarify their situation several bolts of plasma shot past them.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!?" Hehtk'eki asked in a panic voice. Ja'anya leaned closer to the port-hole looking out watching as the stars rolled and the plasma bolts missed their target.

"Looks like," Hehtk'eki was about to make a smart as comment when their trip to hell started. There was the sound of an explosion from somewhere on the ship, it jerked violently then went into an uncontrolled spin. Ja'anya looked away from the port-hole as she started to get motion sickness watching the stars chaotically jump and spin. She hated flying with a passion. Something about being in the void of space in a vessel that could become decompressed in five seconds set her stomach on edge. Sure the station she lived on was in space, but it was protected by an outer hull that was twelve noks thick. She was thankful her mask hid her distress from Hehtk'eki. The vessel went into a controlled spin as it continued to dodge the plasma bolts.

"By who?" Hehtk'eki asked.

"Could be anybody."

"Why?"

"Kidnapping, rivalry, territorial expansion, trespassing... there could be a hundred different reasons."

"Jaaa'aaanyyyaaa," Hehtk'eki nodded to the port-hole as a planet come into view. 'Oh, this is why I hate flying,' Ja'anya thought. Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth she held on for dear life, her claws digging groves into the arm rests. Hehtk'eki had started to recite a prayer to Paya. Both of them were fearless, however when it came to something they could not control or influence all they could do is hold on tight and hope for the best.

It wasn't long before the ship started to tremble in a sure sign they had reached the planet's atmosphere. This was a very bad thing as the vessel still rolled and weaved trying to avoid fire from their attackers. The uneven stress on the hull made the vessel groan in discomfort, as if to release the stress a loud shearing noise was heard. 'That can't be good,' everyone on board thought as they gripped tighter onto their safety harnesses.

As the gravity of the planet took hold the ship righted itself. Ja'anya risked glance through the port-hole. The ship's rumbling from atmosphere entry stopped as the sound of rushing air could surrounded the craft.

"Everyone hold on, we're flying with only one engine," Yik'ak yelled into the intercom. What happened to the other five? "Landing is going to be really rough." Ja'anya closed her eyes again she could still hear Hehtk'eki reciting her prayers. It calmed her a little as she focused on controlling her breathing. It felt like an eternity until Yik'ak's voice came over the intercom again.

"Brace for impact in five, four, three," Hehtk'eki's prayers stopped as she took a short inhaled and held it. "Two," Ja'anya exhaled squeezing her eyes shut. "One...IMPACT!" The ship bounced as it made impact with the ground popping right back up, sailing an unknown distance before hitting the ground again. This time it dug in. The ground was soft as there wasn't any noise of tearing metal. It was a loud rumbling, like a landslide that rolled down the side of a mountain. No crack of large boulders colliding, no breaking trees, just dirt being pushed aside by the ship. Gradually the effort of digging a trench exhausted the momentum of the vessel as it slowed, then stopped.

The ship was quiet. Everyone holding their collective breaths. Then slowly the passengers realized they had not entered the afterlife yet, breathing a temporary sigh of relief. Hesitantly, Ja'anya opened her eyes. She looked across to see that Hehtk'eki was rubbing her head.

"You okay?" Ja'anya asked in a worried tone.

"Yeah just got a little whip lash, nothing to worry about."

"Okay," Ja'anya mind started to break through the fog that settled in during the crash. She realized that they didn't have much time before whoever shot them down would be landing nearby to confirm their kill. "Hehtk'eki get yourself unbuckled and go check on the others. I'm heading to the cockpit to check on the pilot and Guardian Yik'ak. When you've got everyone together, meet me there."

Ja'anya was up and sprinting to the cockpit before Hehtk'eki could respond. The hallway was unobstructed and her mask provided night vision for where the emergency lighting had failed to turn on. Reaching the cockpit door she had to manually force it open by using her dah'kte. What she saw didn't improve their situation at all.

The windshield of the cockpit was broken open with a massive amount of dirt filling the room. The pilot was most likely crushed to death underneath. Yik'ak was strapped to a chair further from the front, but was buried up to his stomach in dirt. She made her way carefully over to the Guardian.

"Guardian Yik'ak are you alive?" Ja'anya shook his shoulder comforted when she hear a groan. He coughed up some green blood, while pulling off his mask.

"Ja'anya, I apologize *cough* for the rough landing," Yik'ak wheezed before coughing up more blood. This wasn't a good sign, he had probably ruptured something internally.

"Apology accepted, now tell me what happened," Ja'anya commanded.

"When the pilot called me here he showed me some odd *cough, cough* readings that were disrupting communications. It was confusing because the origin did not match any know models of ion storms," Yik'ak paused to go into a coughing fit resulting in more blood being expelled. Ja'anya patiently waited until he had caught his breath before continuing. "Millennia ago during one of the clan wars there was a method of using satellites broadcasting ion beams to set up ambushes. The ion beams blocked all communications and disorientated navigation systems. This was disguised as a natural occurrence so no one suspected what was going on until survivors reported the practice. The ambush we fell into was a textbook example of what was reported."

"So are you saying some resentful clan is attacking us for losing a war over millennia ago," Ja'anya asked.

"No, the High Matriarch at the time ruled the practice dishonorable, and those who used the tactic to be exiled." Upon hearing that Ja'anya's stomach turned into a knot.

"Who attacked us?" she asked fearing the answer she would receive.

"Cet Mar'cte, the Black Killer Clan," Yik'ak answered solemnly. "Ja'anya we are no longer the hunters, we are the hunted. Our options right now are limited."

"I know," Ja'anya said, her head dipping down in defeat.

"Young one, right now it is your obligation to insure the survival of your hunt sisters and brothers. Under the circumstances I would have taken the command role, but this responsibility must fall to you." He dug down through the dirt to expose a large piece of the windshield impaling him to the chair. "Gather everything you can make use of, our attackers will come to tally their score. When they do I will set off my akrei-non and take as many with me as I can. You'll need this," carefully Yik'ak detached his sivk'va-tai from his shoulder.

"None of us are blooded, it is forbidden to use such a weapon," Ja'anya exclaimed.

"The Cet Mar'cte will not hesitate to use the most dishonorable methods of hunting you. Use everything you can to survive," Yik'ak roughly shoved the weapon into her hands. Reaching to his belt he pulled out some extra power packs, a healing kit and a few supplies. "You're running out of time. Get away from the ship. Live young one," Yik'ak gave Ja'anya an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder before pushing her away.

Ja'anya held the sivk'va-tai as if it were a new born. Knowing she was not yet worth of the weapon yet held onto it as her life depended upon it. Exiting the cockpit she headed back towards the lounge area. On the way there she ran into Hehtk'eki leading the other unblooded. When they saw her holding the sivk'va-tai they realized how serious the situation had become. There was dreadful pause as the realization sank in.

"Is this everyone?" Ja'anya asked, they were four short. "What happened to Sai'Aaliya, Kal'deris, Sil'cais and Lei'Tuk?"

"Gone," a male called K'on answered. "Sai'Aaliya, Sil'cais and Lei'Tuk were all in the armory. There was a hull breach and … their bodies aren't on the ship."

"And Kal'deris?"

"We found him in one of the hallways," K'on continued, "a plasma line to the engines ruptured. There isn't much of him left. What about the Guardian and pilot?" Ja'anya shook her head in the negative. She looked to each one seeing their fear and sadness at the loss of their hunt brothers and sister. She needed to make sure no one else died, she needed to be a leader. Taking a deep breath she organized her thoughts.

"May their souls go peacefully to Paya's embrace. Now let us see if we may serve justice to their killers. We need to get out of here before they come looking for trophies. We're at a disadvantage here. Kra'vyx and Syl'vyx," Ja'anya turned to the twin brothers.

"Search this ship top to bottom, scrounge any supplies, extra weapons, food... anything that can help us survive, meet at the starboard entrance hatch when you're done. Go," The two brothers split off from the group on their mission. "Hehtk'eki you're the best shot out of all of us take this," Ja'anya handed her the sivk'va-tai. She was about to protest but Ja'anya gave her a deep growl to obey. "Get the starboard hatch open, then take look out. I don't want them sneaking up on us." Hehtk'eki nodded running off. Ja'anya scrutinized at the two remaining members Vi'koni and K'on.

"Which one of you is best with computers?" Ja'anya asked.

"I'd say Vi'koni is," K'on answered. Vi'koni have his follow hunt brother a 'what the hell' look before turning back to Ja'anya.

"Vi'koni, head to the data core and get the flight recorder or download the data. They set up a signal jammer and we need to that data to figure out how to get a message through. K'on go with him and see if you can find this planet in the index. We need a map of where we are and where a safe place might be, go." K'on turned to head off, but Vi'koni took a few steps before looking back at Ja'anya.

"What about you?"

"I'm going to find the emergency beacon," Vi'koni gave a nod and ran after K'on. Ja'anya let out a sigh before turning and heading back to the cockpit. When she entered she didn't look at Yik'ak she could still hear him breathing heavily and coughing. She went over to a floor panel undoing the bolts before diving into the mass of wires looking for the beacon.

"How soon before our clan comes looking for us?" Ja'anya asked.

"They'll detect the ion storm and figure that we can't contact them. However, our destination would have been beyond *cough, cough, cough*. Beyond the sphere of interference so when the pilot doesn't check in they will start to worry," Yik'ak paused to catch his breath and to think. "If I had to guess, they won't send a ship to investigate until the fourth solar cycle and then two more, before they mount a search."

"We have to survive for six cycles," Ja'anya said in a matter of fact tone.

"At the minimum," Yik'ak added. Ja'anya felt her fingers finally reach the emergency beacon as she carefully unscrewed the wires connecting to it. She checked it for damage before tucking it under her arm. "Is there anything else in here that you would recommend taking?" Yik'ak thought for a moment before answering.

"There's a backup beacon in the floor panel next to the door. It smaller, but it'd be good to h...," Yik'ak choked on the last word before coughing up more blood. Ja'anya looked at the growing puddle of blood in front of the Guardian thinking how much he had lost, but still remained attentive. Like the first Ja'anya removed the floor panel then reached inside for the beacon.

"How much longer can you hold out?"

"A while if not, I'll set my akrei-non to detonate on a proximity sensor. So don't come back to the ship," Yik'ak's voice strained as he try to sound stern.

"Very well, may Cetanu bless you with company," Yik'ak let out a light chuckle.

"He has been a friend for years, I'm sure he'd oblige me." That made Ja'anya smile at the grim humor. Giving a nod to the warrior she left for the starboard hatch. As she made her way she glanced around looking for anything useful. She didn't find much, one of the twins must have already gone through here. When she got to the hatch there was a small pile of gear spread out so they could take an inventory in what they had. The large ship offered a lot, the only restriction was they were on the run so they needed to say light and fast. An excessive amount of gear would only slow them down. As she stepped outside she glanced at the sun on the horizon.

"Hehtk'eki is star rising or falling?" Ja'anya called out to the cloaked figure standing on top of the ship.

"Rising, haven't been here long enough to know how much daylight we have." Ja'anya engaged her cloak before jumping up to join her hunt sister. Jumping on top of the ship she noticed the damage done to the vessel. The stern of the craft was literally ripped off. Walking to the edge she could look directly into the engineering room. The frayed edge a mess of metal, wire and leaking fluids. She did a slow turn around taking in the terrain. It was flat with a few rises that just amounted to a small hill. While this provided for an excellent place to crash-land it wasn't to best place to be caught by their enemy. No cover what so ever and whatever path they took was sure to leave some sort of trail in the grass.

"Any sign of our attackers?"

"No, which worries me. They could be cloaked right over our heads waiting and we wouldn't even know it."

"Is there any cover we can get too?" Ja'anya saw Hehtk'eki's arm extend in a direction pointing her finger.

"I had to use the zoom function, but there appears to be a mountain in that direction. It has a different heat signature, so the vegetation there might be different, not sure." Ja'anya focused on the area she had pointed. There was indeed a mountain rising in that direction. Focusing as hard as she might she could not tell its size nor the distance to travel there. Like Hehtk'eki she couldn't tell what kind of vegetation was surrounding the mountain, but it did show up differently than the grassy plane they were occupying.

"Well that's somewhat promising," She said scratching her chin in thought.

"Hey, Ja'anya you up there?" a voice from below called out.

"Yeah, be down in a second. Stay here," Hehtk'eki nodded in confirmation as Ja'anya jumped down. The twins stood before her going through all the stuff they had collected. Weapons, food, spare armor, air scrubbers, cooking stove, water, some tools from what was left of the engine room and a few odds and ends. "Do we have anything to pack this stuff in?" One of the twins pulled out three duffle bags.

"Ja'anya we've got the flight recorder," Vi'koni and K'on approached carrying a black cylinder about the size of a cup.

"What about the map?"

"Yeah got that too, it's on my computer." K'on motioned to the gauntlet on his left wrist. Pressing a few keys on the gauntlet's pad a holographic image of the immediate area surrounding their crash site was displayed. K'on continued to manipulate the image to showing topography and vegetation as it started to zoom out.

"Wow," Kra'vyx observed, "we decided to crash in the largest open space on the planet."

"Yeah, we're sitting kcuds out here," Syl'vyx agreed with his brother.

"Look," Ja'anya pointed to the edge of the map. K'on zoomed out further showing a densely wooded area at the base of a cliff. "That's our nearest cover." K'on typed in a few commands calculating the distance from the crash site.

"It will take almost a half cycle to get there," K'on said.

"Then let's not waste any time. Load up everything we can carry and let's go." After the order was given supplies and gear were loaded into packs. When everyone was ready they engaged their cloaks and headed off. They figured that since they were in terrain that was easy to leave tracks there was no point wasting the time to hide them. Their best bet would be to get to cover as fast as possible and once they got to cover then they would conceal their tracks. What unnerved them the most was the fact they knew they were being hunted. Yet their attackers had yet to take advantage of when its prey was the most vulnerable. When Ja'anya told them it was the Cet Mar'cte that had attacked them they knew what to expect of their opponent.

The Cet Mar'cte, or Black Killer Clan, was a notorious Bad-Blood clan that had plagued their galaxies for far too long. It was said that the very first Yautja that was ever marked in dis-honor founded the band of murderers. They lived to seek revenge on those who had cast them out. Seeking the sensation of power and pleasure from a kill. They could care less about trophies, all that mattered was thrill they got from killing a living creature. That was the least of their transgressions, over the centuries many of the Bad-Bloods had developed 'fetishes'. Some were so sick and perverse that the bounties on their heads could buy an entire planet. The members of the Cet Mar'cte were by far the worst and most notorious.

It was just after the star at the center of the solar system had reached its zenith in the sky that everyone heard and felt a rumble. Vi'koni was in lead and halted to listen. Everyone frozen crouching low to the ground eyes looking in all directions. After a long silence Vi'koni finally spoke.

"Did everyone hear that?" Vi'koni asked for a moment doubting his own senses.

"Yeah," Kra'vyx asked from the middle of the pack.

"I think Yik'ak finally joined his ancestors," Ja'anya said mournfully. The distant rumble they heard was Yik'ak setting off his akrei-non. "Our enemy is at the crash site we are even not half way to the forest yet we need to pick up the pace." Without a word everyone turned and began running.

"We made it," Syl'vyx exclaimed as he rested his back against a tree. They were about two hundred meters inside the tree line before they all stopped to take a breather. After they heard the explosion and seen a heat plume coming from the direction of the crash site they really picked up the pace. The sun was a few hours away from dropping below the horizon and all of them were exhausted. Vi'koni and K'on dug around in their packs for the food rations they had packed. Once finding the brown square packets of meat and dried fruit they distributed them among the six of them. Each eating greedily as they took liberal amounts of water from a canteen they passed around.

After each of them had caught their breath they slowed their consumption to observe their surroundings. The forest floor seemed barren even with all the large tree like planets around them. It was an old growth forest where the trees were massive, their branches blocked out most of the sun light. The forest floor was heavily shaded not allowing any growth underneath the canopy. The trees were far enough away from each other to make everything seem open.

"So," Kra'vyx started, "what do we do now?" What did they do now? Ja'anya during their exodus was too focused on observing their surroundings for dangers to really think of a plan once they reached the forest. She noticed how all the others looked at her. Expecting she would have the answer to this question. They needed to signal for help; that was certain. There was no way they could survive six cycles being hunted by the Cet Mar'cte.

"We need to find a frequency that gets through their jamming signal. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get out of this situation. Vi'koni, K'on work on the flight recorder see what data you can retrieve. Kra'vyx, Syl'vyx scout ahead see if you can find a well-protected spot to set up camp. Hehtk'eki and I will patrol this area while Vi'koni and K'on do their work. Any objections?" The group was silent. "Alright everyone to their tasks, if there's any trouble re-group here. Keep the comm channels quiet, I don't what to give them a signal to track us. Meet back in one hour."

The group departed to go their ways. As they split up Ja'anya started to evaluate her decision. She knew all the tasked she had assigned to her group were important however spreading them out over an area and not consolidating their strength made them better targets. She made the call, no sense doubting her choices now.

"So how do you want to patrol?" Hehtk'eki asked walking beside Ja'anya.

"Let's retrace our trail back to the tree line. If they're tracking us it would be the best location to see them coming. Stay hidden," Ja'anya leaped up into one of the trees and started jumping from branch to branch. She moved quietly and softly just as her instructors had taught her. Not disturbing a leaf or scale of bark as she traveled in the canopy. Alert and vigilant she continued to cycle through the different vision settings on her mask looking for anything out-of-place. Eventually she found a good lookout point. It had a wide view of the grassy plans they had just traversed while concealing her position with heavy leaves. One thing that puzzled her was the lack of native animals. Surely this planet had some form of life than just its fauna.

It wasn't long before she was heading back to camp. The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon and night was soon to follow. She hadn't seen any movement besides the wind blowing across the grass and swaying the trees. Hehtk'eki was already at the meeting point bent over looking at what Vi'koni and K'on had been working on. The twins weren't back yet which gave Ja'anya a little pang of panic.

"So how's it going?"

"Pain in the ass," Vi'koni groaned out to Ja'anya's question. "K'on and I might be good with computers but this is way beyond our field of experience. Retrieving the data, we understand. Identifying the ion wavelength being used as a jamming signal, we identified. How to send a distress call through it, no idea."

"It isn't just find the right frequency its being able to make it strong enough to break though as well. The way this jamming signal works is like being at an argument at a council meeting. Everyone is so loud and overpowering that any weak voice doesn't reach anybody's attention. So even if we could find the correct wavelength there would still be too much noise for anyone to hear our voice." K'on let out a similar groan to Vi'koni's before falling on his back looking up at the sky. "My brain is starting to hurt from too many calculations."

"I don't think any of us received any training to become an engineer or scientist," Vi'koni admitted. This made the group all breathe a sigh of frustration. Despite their intense education and upbringing to become future leaders none were fully taught how to deal with this problem. The only one who could have possibly solved their problem from their original group was the pilot of the ship. A noise caught all of their attention as the whirled around to face it. Their weapons drawn, their body under tension to spring into action. Two figures uncloaked a hundred meters from where they stood.

"We found a place to camp," Kra'vyx said, the group relaxed. It didn't take a full minute before they were up and moving again following Kra'vyx and Syl'vyx. They moved through the tree tops, trying to leave as little sign of their passage as possible. After about forty minutes they had arrived at their shelter for the night. A massive tree had a twenty-four noks wide diameter at least. Its root wad stood high above the ground allowing them to hide beneath the massive tree. The large branches above also provided a good lookout point and shelter.

The sky started to darken and night was now upon them. Drawing straws they decided to would sleep and who was on watch. It was a three on, three off rotation. Ja'anya, Vi'koni and K'on were on first rotation. K'on and Ja'anya decided to take lookout in the large branches above. The other stayed hidden below in the roots with Vi'koni watching over them as they slept.

It was quiet, Ja'anya could hear K'on's breathing from over a ten meters away. It was somewhat unnerving, but with this level of calm anything sneaking up on them would broadcast its position immediately.

**A/N: A nice long second chapter for sure. Wanted to add more so I could introduce the Black Killer Clan but reading through it seemed like a good spot to end the chapter. I don't what to overwhelm myself and you guys with the story. I'm pretty sure the bad guys will be the focus of the next chapter to be sure. No Mature rating yet, but it's coming**

**So while doing my research on this chapter I came across a discussion board that was talking about Yautja females. One of the things they mentioned was the irregularity in their appearance. In some media they say that males and females were indistinguishable besides the difference in size, strength and genitalia (only if you ask them to pull up their loin cloth). While others say that females were larger, stronger and had breasts (aw yes, alien females must have boobs!). So, to play to both sides I decided that females don't get boobs until they've become pregnant, makes sense to me. Don't need breasts until you need to feed a pup. Then there was the debate that Yautja's don't nurse their young because the movies didn't show the males having nipples. Yet in the other media, there was the use of the phrase 'go back to sucking your bearer's teat.' So...I think at this point it's all up to creator's digression. So damn it, the female Preds in this fic will have boobs... eventually... maybe...because I don't know if they're going to have pups...whatever, don't want any spoilers.**

**Porter-Fuzz, thank you for your feedback. I'll be using the names you provided for sure. Also, while my unblooded seem a little...not bad-ass at the moment, they will be getting into their element soon enough. The whole scenario was something they were unprepared for and are adapting to survive. While it might seem pansy-ish to be calling for help so early. When you've seen the Black Killers you'll know why they want to get out of their so bad.**

**Grammar and spelling criticism is welcome as well as criticism about anything wrong with my Yautja society. Hope you enjoyed and I'll be seeing you all next chapter. Until then, Peace.**


	3. On the Run

**A/N: Greetings all and welcome to chapter three. Just as a note I would like to address a few issues in my two previous chapters as I've talked with several other writers in this community that know more about the predator franchise than myself. Please note you don't need to go back and re-read the first couple of chapters. The changes are very minor and will not affect the story I have planned.**

First off I tried to go through and correct some grammar, spelling, and word usage in the first two chapters since I was already editing them. Other edits with be as follows. Now edits of note:

1\. Ja'anya's mother isn't the high matriarch anymore. She is going to be a Clan Matriarch, because High Matriarch is like the Queen of all Yautja basically. I do not want to deal with that in my story directly.

2\. Ja'anya's hair tendrils are not bound in a complex braid. Apparently Yautja hair tendrils are very sensitive and are considered an erogenous zone. So having them bound in a complex braid would be considered almost a form of torture; either pain or pleasure I'm not too sure. So she's sporting a standard tendril style.

3\. The Yautja females lack of breasts. All I can say is I made a very large note of this in Chapter two; both in the story and in my author's note. The only change is that I go into more detail that the Yautja species is very adaptable and diverse. We have super-Yautja who are huge, some looking like their from a tundra planet, others having actual horns on the fringes, some more adapt to colder climates, etc. So the Yautja as a species is very diverse not with just their skin pattern but in their biology as well. So whatever planet the Yautja lived on for an extended period of time they developed traits from living on that planet, resulting in several sub-species or races. Or something in their diet, or maybe their lifestyle, etc. Sure some are more common or populated than others, but basically I'm saying there is in my story there isn't just a "default Yautja". So my Yautja characters are members of a sub-species that the females do not have breast until they get pregnant.

I would kind of compare it to how some male lions don't have manes, or how some female lions do have manes. Or how some female deer have antlers. Or how female bodybuilders develop deeper voices and facial hair (from taking drugs, supplements, whatever). Anyway, these primary male traits appear in females due to the amount of testosterone in their systems. Whatever genetic mutation, diet, drugs, habitat, etc in their evolution they developed this adaption and is now a dominate gene in their biology. I've basically added this 'correction comment' into the story. Okay enough about that, next topic.

4\. My science is not strong and after thinking about it... the Yautja a space fairing species for over 100,000 earth years being affected by solar radiation. Yeah, you science buffs probably didn't buy it either, but went along with it anyways and didn't say anything. Next time say something, I kind of feel like an idiot. So, solar radiation has been changed to an ion storm. Ions can really mess stuff up so... there fixed; Next.

5\. Just small stuff on what they wouldn't be able to see. Because they can see heat it also means without special vision modes they couldn't see out of windows. They definitely wouldn't be able to see colors like humans do, so some descriptive parts were taken out of the story.

6\. The Black Killer Clan, doing some research on the Yautja language I've come up with an equivalent to this name in their language; Cet Mar'cte. 'Cet' derived from their god of death, 'The black hunter', Cetanu. Mar'cte is directly means 'Killer'.

**My thanks to Khalthar, Porter-Fuzz and all the other readers for their involvement.**

**Now on with the story, and if you have any problems with the Yautja words I think I'm going to start putting a definitions section at the end of each chapter. So, if you have any confusion about the words, skip to the ending author's note.**

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with other.**

Chapter 3: On the Run

Ja'anya was starting to feel the stress and exhaustion from the day's events begin to wear on her. It was just a little longer before she changed watched with Hehk'eki, Kra'vyx and Syl'vyx. K'on who was on the other side of the tree keeping watch at her six o'clock shared her exhaustion. She would hear an occasional yawn or him shake his head to stave of sleep just a little longer. She watched the seconds tick by on her heads-up-display (hud) with anticipation.

She did appreciate that she took first watch because she doubted she would have been able to get to sleep with her mind unsettled. The time on watch let her sort through the events that had happened during and after the crash. They had been shot down by the Cet Mar'cte Clan, a notorious bad-blood clan. They crashed on a planet that was virtually unknown to them, besides the survey maps recovered from the data core of their ship. Their ship was now a crater after Guardian Yik'ak set off his akrei-non. The small pack of unblooded had run to the nearest cover they could find, which was the forest they were currently occupying. That brought her to the present.

After committing those events to memory she started to think about the future. Six cycles, that's how long they had to survive before their clan started looking for them. She had plenty of time to think of a strategy to deal with their situation. After some serious debates with herself on the best course of action she realized there was no right answer. No, 'in this exact situation this is what you should do' because this was life; an unpredictable and chaotic stream of events. One part of her wanted to find a well defended area and hold up, and try and out last their aggressors. This was shot down because the Cet Mar'cteknew they were on a time table too. Not to mention they had the support of at least one ship and its crew, which could be a half dozen to a hundred hunters. She didn't even know how many were currently hunting them.

She finally decided on the 'running' plan. Sure she might be labeled a coward for not fighting, but there would be a fight and she hoped to postpone it for just a little while longer. The 'running' plan was just as it sounded. Keep moving, don't get tied down to one location and get surrounded. The tricky part about this would be trying to avoid traps or ambushes if their opponents tried to jump ahead of them. She decided that they would be sporadic, random and unpredictable in their movements. Even then this all depended on who and how many were hunting them.

Usually hunting parties were a trio; a tracker, a warrior and archer. Some of these roles overlapped as member had multiple skills or could fulfill any role. One member would could track their prey, one would engage the prey directly and the last would attack from a distance. Elite hunters could do all these roles. Recently blooded hunters usually stay in a hunting pack to refine their skills in these different roles before going solo. Ja'anya thought back to one of those board games she played as a kid where each piece had an ability and it was using those pieces in different combinations that defeated her opponent. Experience played a lot into who won those board games, Ja'anya had yet to beat her mother even if she hadn't played the game in years. So, how experienced were the hunters following them?

Ja'anya was finally relieved to see it was time to rotate. Giving a soft click she got K'on's attention. Ja'anya communicated through hand signals it was time to go down and get some rest. K'on nodded following her silently as they climbed down the tree to join the others. Vi'koni greeted them with the point of a ki'cti-pa. They remained posed there before Vi'koni dropped the tip of the ki'cti-pa before relaxing.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, I almost stabbed you," Vi'koni whispered with a relieved sigh.

"Be glad you didn't," K'on replied, "I would have stabbed you back."

"My first attack would have been fatal. You wouldn't have had the opportunity."

"Ell-osde' pauk, I might be tired as hell, but I'd still be able to kill you without a scratch."

"K'on, Vi'koni; if you both still have enough energy to argue maybe you should take the next watch," Ja'anya growled disapprovingly.

"No," K'on answered quickly, "I'm ready for some shut eye."

"Let's get these sleepy heads up so we can get some rest," Vi'koni added with a tired nod. From second hand experience everyone woke their sleeping hunt brothers and sister from a distance. You don't wake up a very well-armed hunter by shaking or poking. That was a for sure way to get a dah'kte to the gut. Even then their rousing was…defensive.

"Are we under attack!?" Hehk'eki whispered quickly while extending her dah'kte from her wrist. Her other hand was hovering between the smart disk on her belt and the ki'cti-pa on the small of her back. The sivk'va-tai on her shoulder swayed side to side following were she was looking. It was kind of worrisome because Hehk'eki was looking at them so they were looking down the barrel. The twins reacted the same way, crouching back to back weapons drawn surveying their surroundings for dangers.

"No, not yet at least," Vi'koni answered hands raised. The three hunters eventually calmed down before being told it was their turn to keep watch. The three who were previously on watch settled down in the roots of the tree to hide and protect them. They could hear Hehtk'eki and Syl'vyx climbing up the side of the tree when there were two light pops then a cry of pain. Ja'anya and the others who were in the tree roots were outside in a flash with weapons drawn.

"MEI'HSWEI!" Kra'vyx cried out when he looked up the tree. About half way up Syl'vyx and Hehtk'eki were both pinned to the tree by nets. Without thinking Ja'anya reached to the two chakt-ras on her belt tossing them both under handed with a flick. The two disks few true towards their targets cutting one side of the net so Syl'vyx and Hehtk'eki could slip out.

Hehtk'eki dug her claws into the thick bark flipping around so her back was against the tree. Her targeting laser flashed as the sivk'va-tai charged and quickly fired off a burst of three shots. The hunters watched where the bolts of plasma landed seeing three silhouettes against the heat of the explosions. There was a collective clicking from all the unblooded hunters as they changed through there different vision modes find one that exposed their attackers.

"High ultra-violet mode," Syl'vyx called out as he hung next to Hehtk'eki. With the three bad-blood hunters exposed they automatically dropped their cloak to conserve energy. Then to the unblooded's displeasure, a single heat signature appeared on each of the bad-blood's shoulders.

"Oh, you've got to be c'jit'n me," K'on said in disbelief looking at the six balls of energy charging.

"SCATTER!" Ja'anya orders as everyone dove for cover. The area was suddenly filled with explosions as the six enemy sivk'va-tai sprayed the area with plasma bolts. None of the unblooded stayed on the ground as they all jumped into the tree branches getting elevation on their attackers. Hehtk'eki fired off her own sivk'va-tai when she could, but the three bad-bloods realized she was a larger threat than the others. So their constant attacks kept her on the move not giving her time to line up a shot.

The majority of the other unblooded didn't have many long range weapons. They had their ki'cti-pas, but didn't want to throw their weapon if it didn't guarantee a kill. After Vi'koni had thrown one of his chakt-ras at the bad-bloods only to see the disc shot out of the air as if it was target practice they conserved their chakt-ras as well. The three bad-bloods stayed rooted in their spot dealing out enough suppressive fire on the unblooded to keep them behind cover. Ja'anya released that they needed to interrupt their constant stream of plasma bolts if they wanted to escape or attack.

"Hehtk'eki" Ja'anya called over the communicator in her mask. "There is a tree that is thinner than the rest to your ten o'clock. Shoot at the trunk so that it will fall on the trigger happy bastards. Everyone, get in position to take them out when they scatter."

Ja'anya flew through the tree branches until she was near the tree she pointed out to Hehtk'eki. When she started to see the tree swaying as its trunk was destroyed she propelled herself at it with all the strength she could muster. Ja'anya struck the tree with enough force to start it falling towards the three bad-bloods. She rode the falling tree as she drew both her chakt-ras waiting for a target.

The bad-bloods saw the tree falling directly at them. They all jumped out of the way in separate directions. Ja'anya threw both her disks at the nearest one. She then growled in frustration as the bad-blood swatted them away with their dah'kte. The discs arced back to Ja'anya as she snatched them out of the air before pursuing this bad-blood. When the bad-blood landed they had to dodge a blow from Kra'vyx. Ja'anya drew her ki'cti-pa joining the fight.

Hehtk'eki and K'on double teamed one bad-blood while that last one had to deal with Vi'koni and i54. They all realized these bad-bloods were more experienced than them as they had no problem fighting two opponents. Even with the superior numbers an observing party would say that the unblooded were being pushed back. One would take a blow knocking them back, as the bad-blood went for the kill the teammate would block the killing strike. By the time the one knocked down had recovered it was their turn to save their teammate. Ja'anya growled in frustration. She was still tired and was not at full strength, she knew this was a losing battle. They needed to retreat.

Kra'vyx was doing the best he could keeping up with the bad blood while also watching Ja'anya's back. He stole a quick glance to see how his brother was doing when he noticed an opportunity. Charging at the fight between Ja'anya and her respective bad-blood Kra'vyx attempted a tackle. The bad-blood noticed this and jumped back scoring a hit on Kra'vyx's leg as the failed tackle went past. Instinctively going into a roll Kra'vyx recovered and as he came out of the roll threw his ki'cti-pa like a spear. He smiled at it hit its target.

"*RROOAAARRR!*" the bad-blood that had been fighting Syl'vyx and Vi'koni roared in pain as a ki'cti-pa pierced his thigh. Vi'koni was just crouched down holding his stomach from a kick and couldn't take advantage of the bad-blood's misfortune. Syl'vyx on the other had could. Jumping into the air, al'nagara held in both hands above his head Syl'vyx went to cleave the bad-blood in two. As he did though, he left himself wide open.

An invisible force struck Syl'vyx as he flew back. Beneath the mask his eyes went wide as he coughed up blood. He felt his back impact a tree then something sticking through him, pinning him. Looking down he didn't see anything, but when his hands reached forward he felt a cylindrical object jutting out of his chest. Slowly as the energy dissipated a bhrak-chei de-cloaked. It was as nasty piece of work with barbs all the way down the shaft.

"What is taking you pups so long," a voice bellowed. "I just told you get dinner, is that so hard to do?"

The three bad-bloods disengaged from their fights regrouping where a tall figure was de-cloaking. The light from the fires burning around them cast a haunting sight. A massive bad-blood towering over everyone decorated in armor made out of skulls, talons and bones. Skulls of kainde amedha where used as shoulder guards, a ribcage of some beast was used as a breast plate. Claws, fangs and teeth were scattered throughout the biological and synthetic parts, sticking out at different angles to be used as weapons or aid in defense. What was most disturbing was the mask. A Yautja skull was overlain; the mandibles, the jaw, forehead and what was most haunting was the eyes. Whatever the hunter had done to the mask made the eye holes glowed like fire. Giving it a frightening almost demonic appearance.

"AND YOU," the demon bad-blood yelled. "What are you getting yourself hurt for?" The bad-blood with the ki'cti-pa through his thigh bowed his head in disgrace. The giant backhanded the wounded bad-blood sending him sprawling. The giant marched to the fallen bad-blood placing his foot on his back and grabbing hold of the ki'cti-pa in his thigh. With one pull the giant ripped the weapon out. The smaller bad-blood was prepared to have it ripped out, but still let out a whimper of pain.

"Pathetic," the demon bad-blood's head swiveled around looking at the scene in front of him. The unblooded were frozen, unsure whether to attack or run. As if to answer their question for them the demon slowly walked over the fresh corpse of Syl'vyx. The group of unblooded slowly following him with their weapons not daring to turn their back nor attack. When he got in front of young Yautja hung from the tree he reached up and pulled the body down. The throwing the body over his shoulder walked back the way he came and vanished into the night. The three other bad-bloods waited a moment before engaging their camouflage and disappeared after him.

"Syl'vyx," the others turned to see Kra'vyx fall to his knees. His claws dug into the dirt, his body shook from sorrow, fear and anger. "*RRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!* THAT DEMON WILL PAY WITH HIS LIFE!"

"No, don't," K'on grabbed on Kra'vyx's shoulder, but was thrown to the ground.

"Restrain him!" Ja'anya commanded. The pack descended on grieving member of their team as he struggled against them. All four of them took a limb while trying to press their weight on Kra'vyx's torso. He yelled, screamed and fought for them to let him go. Slowly his grief took hold, his fire for retribution gradually faded. The others could only hear whimpering coming from beneath his mask but no one really knew how to address it.

"The rest of you; gather our supplies we're moving. They shouldn't be back tonight, but I don't want to risk it," Ja'anya ordered. As the other unblooded left Ja'anya with Kra'vyx as he lay there grieving. Ja'anya had been witness to how her mother reacted to one of her children who did not return from a hunt. In public she remained stone solid only showing slight sorrow, one or two tears, but that was all. At home in her private quarters she would scream, roar and throw a tantrum that wrecked her room beyond recognition. She had heard that twins like Kra'vyx and Syl'vyx shared special bonds.

It was known that some bearers could develop empathic or slightly telepathic abilities when it came to their offspring. Sensing when one was joyful, depressed, in danger or even deceased. Twins who had shared the womb of their bearer at birth shared this same empathic or telepathic ability. Twins could be some of the most devastating combatants in a fight because they could coordinate attacks without even communicated their intentions to the other. To have such a bond severed and witness it firsthand would truly damage the psyche of the surviving twin.

"Kra'vyx," Ja'anya said softly, "we can't stay here much longer."

"We're all going to die on this planet aren't we?" Kra'vyx didn't really ask it as a question, but made it more of a rhetorical statement. Ja'anya had already thought about this hard reality, but couldn't bring herself to accept herself to Cetanu's domain just yet.

"Kra'vyx, we can mourn for Syl'vyx at camp, we are exposed here." Ja'anya pulled the male to his feet. Putting an arm around him she guided him back to where the other unblooded where already pack and ready to leave. With a little encouragement Kra'vyx was sprinting through the dark forest with his pack.

Ja'anya couldn't help but feel that was going to become a habit.

-Three Solar Cycles Later-

"PAUK, PAUK, PAUK, THIS CAN NOT BE HAPPENING," Ja'anya paced back and forth a she pulled on the small horns around her fringe. The remaining two members of her hunting pack lay close by unconscious. Both their wounds had been treated, but after the beating they had received they were lucky she was able to save the two of them. However, she knew that wasn't the case. The bad-bloods had let her escape with them.

They had stuck to their plan of being random in their movements, changing direction every few hours to throw off the bad-bloods tracking them. It worked the first day and night after Syl'vyx had been killed, but at the beginning of the third solar cycle after crash landing their hunters caught on. From what Ja'anya could tell the bad-bloods spent the entire night setting up scanners in all across the forest. So no matter where they went, the bad-bloods now knew their general location.

They had walked into an ambush and Vi'koni paid the price for it. They only saw the three younger bad-bloods and not the demon, but Ja'anya was sure he was there watching. They were able to land some decent blows to the younger bad-bloods, but it didn't result in victory. In the end, they were being herded towards another trap so she commanded her pack to retreat. Both sides wounded and exhausted from the fight retreated to their respective corners.

The bad-bloods had again taken the body of who they had killed. It wasn't any stretch of the imagination what they were doing with Vi'koni's corpse. The demon obviously had a cannibalistic nature after the little of himself he revealed. So besides taking the skull of the slain as a trophy, the rest of the corpse probably provided fresh meat.

Everyone had taken Vi'koni's death hard. All of them were friends and now hunt brothers and sisters, but his death made them all realized their imminent deaths would be on this backwater planet. Kra'vyx had become withdrawn after his twin's death. Though they all had been trained to deal with lost, Kra'vyx obviously never thought to prepare for his twins lost. Despite the groups best efforts Kra'vyx had stopped eating enough to keep his strength.

After that defeat, Ja'anya decided to change their strategy a little. One of them would stay behind and set up traps for an ambush of their own. While the rest did a very large circle, looping back around to the ambush. And the plan worked, mostly.

Right from the get go they were able to take one of the young bad-bloods out of commission, but not kill them. They were winning against the remaining two, but then when victory was at the tip of their ki'cti-pa; it was taken away. The demon bad-blood intervened and turned the tables in a millisecond. He was obviously above the skill of an Honored Elite, possibly on par with an Elder. This was quickly learned when he took on all four of the unblooded while the young bad-bloods watched.

They were not skilled, equipped or experienced enough to face such a deadly warrior. K'on and Kra'vyx were both knocked out half way through the fight leaving Hehtk'eki and Ja'anya to combat the demon themselves. They figured they had a better chance trying to defeat the demon bad-blood than running. The demon seemed to be an instructor or guardian for the younger bad-bloods, so they would not interfere in his fight. Ja'anya could tell he was playing with them and it infuriated her even more. However, as they danced away from his attacks Ja'anya saw an opening.

Without a second thought Ja'anya dove and rolled under the demon bad-blood's attack. Taking her dah'kte she stabbed the blades into the demon's thigh as she went past. Then jumping out of her roll throwing all the weapons she had in quick succession in to the demon's exposed back. She then ran towards K'on and Kra'vyx lifting them both onto her shoulders.

Without turning Ja'anya ordered Hehtk'eki to disengage and retreat. Ja'anya turned to find her hunt sister pinned to a tree with the demon bad-blood's hand round her throat. Despite the deep cut on his thigh and the weapons lodged in his back the demon showed no pain. Hehtk'eki struggled and kicked to get the large male off her. With what seemed like an effortless twist of his wrist Ja'anya heard Hehtk'eki's neck give a sickening snap. Hehtk'eki's legs went limp, her arms fell to her sides and her head lulled forward. Ja'anya roared out Hehtk'ek's name, she wanted to attack, but all her weapons where in the demon's back. She looked away and with tears in her eyes she ran.

Now there see sat with her two remaining unconscious hunt brothers laying on either side of her, as she curled tighter into a ball.

"This is not happening," she knew what was going to happen. Somehow though she had to change that. Reaching to her belt she pulled out the emergency beacon she had taken from the ship. She rotated it in her hands looking at it from every angle. They still hadn't figured out how to get through the signal jammer, so it became just some extra weight to carry around. She needed a new plan.

Looking out through the tree roots she noticed that it had finally become night. She knew that the bad-bloods would not be hunting tonight, they would be celebrating a campfire and feasting on Hehtk'eki's body. The thought made the feelings of regret, depression, and remorse increase.

**Definitions:**

Kainde Amedha Chiva - hard meat hunt

kiandi amedha – hard meat, xenomorph

Chiva - hunt

C'jit - shit

nok – unit of measure (13 inches)

dah'kte – wrist blades.

Akrei-non – bomb or explosive

sivk'va-tai - plasma caster/cannon

al'nagara - Long Sword

Paya – Gods as a whole

Lilka - Refered to as 'The Goddess', Goddess of home, hearth, and Life

Cetanu – God of Death, the Black Hunter

Cet Mar'cte Clan – Black Killer Clan

Ell-osde' pauk – F*** you!

chakt-ras – Hunter disc/ smart disks

ki'cti-pa - Spear/Combistick/Lance

bhrak-chei - Spear/Harpoon

**A/N: So that's all for this chapter, special thanks to Khalthar for his time, knowledge and theories about the Yautja universe. If you haven't red any of his stories and you're Predator fans you're seriously missing out.**

**Please leave your comments and critics, until next time Peace.**


	4. Confrontation

**A/N: Hello again and here we all are for chapter 4. Thank you to all who have faved and are currently following, aspectual to those you have left comments. Your feed-back motivates me further to continue writing.**

**Clear as Mud: If I'm going to do something I don't like doing it half-assed. I've got a wonderful resource who has helped me mold my story concept around Yautja canon material. Granted this is a fan fiction so there will of course certain liberties taken. Hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with other.**

Chapter 4: Confrontation

Kra'vyx didn't open his eyes immediately after regaining consciousness. The first thing that greeted him was the throbbing pain from the top of his head. He wanted to rub it, but he remained still, he didn't know if he was in danger. His last memory flashed through his mind of the demon bad-blood bringing a closed fist down on him. He had brought both his hands up in a cross guard, but the power of the demon broke through; rendering Kra'vyx unconscious in one blow. He turned his senses outward.

Kra'vyx could hear breathing from two individuals nearby. With his tendrils touching the ground, he could feel through the soil they were very close, no more than twenty nok away. Taking a breath he tasted the air and recognized the scents of K'on and Ja'anya. None of them had bathed since they crashed, so their odors were fairly strong as well as the pheromones they produced. He could tell they were stressed, afraid, and depressed, hidden though under these scents he could detect salt. Not the salt from perspiration, but from tears, one of them had been crying.

He had been crying, not recently, but over the past few days he had. The loss of his brother still vexed him terribly. It was as if a bad-blood was gutted him every minute of every day. Ripping how all his internal organs leaving him a hollow figure of bone and muscle. The throbbing from his head was but a pin prick of pain while the gaping hole from his brother's death felt like a Kiande Amedha larva was eating his insides.

"Where is Hehk'eki?' Kra'vyx asked quietly as he opened his eyes. Both K'on and Ja'anya turned to see Kra'vyx still lying on the dirt floor looking up at the bottom of the tree they were hiding under. There was silence.

"She didn't make it," K'on whispered mournfully back. Kra'vyx closed his eyes again saying a silent prayer to Cetanu that her soul would go with gladness to the eternal hunting grounds.

"May Cetanu be merciful," Ja'anya added with sorrow. The dwindling hunting pack held the moment in reverence for their fallen sister. Kra'vyx slowly sat up then crawled over to where K'on and Ja'anya were sitting. Between the three of them a small pile of supplies was stacked. One food ration, two vials of healing serum, first aid kit, three power packs, some ointments and salves, the emergency beacon with a few odds and ends. Their stockpile of weapons were even more meager. Beside each of their dah'kte on their wrists, two chakt-ras, one ki'cti-pa, a dah'nagara and a small assortment of knives was all they had.

"This is all," Kra'vyx stated.

"This is all," Ja'anya confirmed. The statement hung in the air like an announcement of doom; none of them wished to address it.

"Ja'anya," K'on said weakly before coughing to clear his throat. "Ja'anya was telling me about a new plan before you woke up."

"Oh?" Kra'vyx said half interested.

"She wants to attack," K'on said with conviction.

"Wha?" Kra'vyx was confused. They were taught as pups if they were ever to run into bad-bloods to run. Run, don't look back, and find a blooded hunter that could protect you. The fact that they had tried to set traps and lay an ambush was against want they had been taught, but they did these things in order to survive. Now that they knew they weren't going to survive and rescue wasn't going to happen…

"We're going to die here," Ja'anya said definitively, "but if Cetanu is going to have my soul, I'm going to give him the gift of a dishonorable bad-blood before I go." The statement stoked a small fire in Kra'vyx; vengeance. Revenge for having his Kiande Amedha Chiva ruined, revenge for the sleepless nights and long days of running and most of all vengeance for his brother.

"The bad-blood pups have not been blooded yet. They think we are pyode amedha. We have proven we are better than them, if not for the demon protecting them, we would have been victorious multiple times. So tonight while they celebrate their non-existent victory, we hunt them."

"So," Kra'vyx asked with his mandibles twitching excitedly for payback, "what's the plan?"

Ja'anya explained the plan in great detail and also talked about several back up plans. Kra'vyx was amazed at the brain this female had, granted she was the Clan Matriarch's daughter, but the level of strategy and planning she demonstrated was well beyond that of her peers. The first stage was the preparation.

The one food ration while meager needed to be split three ways. So they cut the dried meat and fruit while Ja'anya continued. Next was a bath, because they needed to keep their scents hidden. After cleaning themselves should head back to where they last fought the bad-bloods. Find their trail and follow it back to their camp.

Next was the tricky part. Once they had found the bad-blood camp they need to stay hidden. If they didn't have the element of surprise then this whole mission was a failure. Once they got in position they needed to strike in a coordinated attack. The question was when should they attack? The longer they stayed hidden the closer to the bad-blood camp the more likely they would be discovered. So once arriving they need to strike at the first opportunity. What that opportunity might be Ja'anya didn't know.

"It could be when one of them goes off to get more fire wood. Maybe when two of them start fighting over something stupid. They need to provide the distraction to their own demise."

"Why don't we strike when they're all asleep? It's sort of dis-honorable to kill an unconscious opponent, but this fight hasn't been fair from the start." K'on looked towards the other two for their input.

"They will most likely activate their automated defense or alarm systems before they do. After they do that there is no way of sneaking up on them. Sure they will be tired but so are we," Kra'vyx said.

"True, but they'll also have full stomachs," Ja'anya stopped after saying that, realizing what their stomachs would be full of. Kra'vyx and K'on caught why she stopped, the thought of Hehk'eki dampened their hopeful mood.

"Before we start all this, there is one thing we must do," Ja'anya took off her computer gauntlet. Picking up the emergency beacon and a power cell she held them in her hands. "We need to send a message home about what happened here. I've rigged the emergency beacon to start broadcasting in five days. I'm hoping by then the bad-bloods will be long gone, the jamming signal they're using will be turned off and our Clan will be out searching for us. The transmitter is on the strongest setting and with this power-cell, it should last a month. Plenty of time to recover our messages."

"Messages?" K'on asked.

"While you two were asleep I gave a full and detailed recounting on what has happened to us. I then made a personal message for my bearer and sire. I suggest you two do the same. Give some sort of closure to our families when they find this."

"Last statement, will, and testament," Kra'vyx muttered softly.

"Mind if I go first?" K'on direct at Kra'vyx who gave slow nod. K'on gave a slight bow to the other two as he excused himself to have some privacy while he recorded his message. Kra'vyx was already thinking about what he was going to say. He knew he needed to comfort his bearer first. Tell her that he had kept the family honor and that she should be proud despite the overwhelming odds that they had not strayed from the path.

Kra'vyx glanced up to see Ja'anya with a distant expression. Probably thinking about her family back on the Clan station, reminiscing about better days at home. However, something about her posture told him that she was doubting herself. If their leader wasn't confident in their course of action it could be hazardous for everyone.

"Your strategy's solid Ja'anya, it will work," Kra'vyx reassured.

"Don't be delusional, we aren't leaving this planet alive," the confident voice that Ja'anya had while discussing her plan to attack the bad-bloods was gone. A weak, terrified pup huddled before Kra'vyx. Her legs tucked to her chest as her arms wrapped around them. Ja'anya mask betrayed her as the seal around the edges did not hold the tears now dripping off her chin.

Kra'vyx was in a dangerous position. Their leader had lost faith in her abilities to lead as she watched her hunt-mates fall. As a huntress she had suffered defeat after defeat in combat leaving her doubting her skill. If they were to go into battle this instant, Ja'anya would not be in the right state of mind to come out victorious. Her thoughts full of the worst possible outcomes.

Slowly crawling around the small pile of supplies and weapons Kra'vyx sat next to Ja'anya. The two Yautjas were just about the same size except Ja'anya was little taller. Gently Kra'vyx leaned into Ja'anya's side, when he had pressed as much of himself he dared against her, he softly began to purr.

Purring for Yautja held several different purposes. They purred when they were happy or content. Purring with a certain pheromones and body language could signify they are not a threat or the intent to copulate. Infant pups purred in their bearer's arms to tell them they were healthy, felt safe or wanted to be comforted. Bearers purred at their offspring at any age to display affection or sometimes use it in a loving scolding. The most common effect when one purred was a calming sensation.

Ja'anya's heavy thoughts dominated her attention allowing Kra'vyx to get close to her without noticing. However when a foreign feeling of calm and comfort started to conquer her depression she soon became aware of Kra'vyx close proximity. She was shocked at first to have a male who was not a member of her family purr to her. Her father and couple of her brothers had purred to her when she was very young. She was about to protest, but the now welcome comfort began to heal her spirit.

"Ja'anya," Kra'vyx whispered, "Lilka will not forsake us. She will hold Centanu off just a little longer."

Ja'anya began to purr back pressing against Kra'vyx's vibrating body. Beneath the mask Ja'anya's tears stopped, the worried brow became relaxed. Her eyes closed completely submersing herself in to the warm rumbling body next to her.

Ja'anya had been raised to challenge her own mother to be the next Matriarch of their clan. She was constantly at her mother's side at all times learning firsthand what it took to be a leader of their clan. When she wasn't with her mother she was with her tutors, filling her mind with knowledge and training her body to be a pillar of strength for her clan. She only had a social life when her mother deemed it appropriate for her.

The only time she would interact with her peers was when they shared instructors. So the majority of friends her age she met in the sparring ring. Hehk'eki was probably the closest true friend even if she was slightly a rival. Even then Ja'anya had never been with her like this.

Kra'vyx was glad his plan worked, because he honestly been missing the closeness of another. He had always had his brother, Syl'vyx, to relay on when he felt down. He had shared a close bond with his twin brother. Through any trials and difficulties they would always console each other.

Kra'vyx and Ja'anya's purring grew in volume, matching in perfect harmony. Kra'vyx's been a very low baritone rumble while Ja'anya had more of a tenor. Kra'vyx's purr trembled like a cough. Then Kra'vyx began to laugh. Ja'anya leaned way from him to cocking her head and let out a low growl displeased that he had stopped purring.

"Heh, I'm, hfm hfm hm, I'm sorry, ehem. I was thinking about my brother and it reminded about one time," Kra'vyx took a few breaths. Ja'anya continued to let a low growl, demanding an explanation. "It had been a long day, I had broken my forearm while sparring and was in a lot of pain. So Syl'vyx was purring to comfort me. He made comment that I broke my arm because I was slow. I said he couldn't beat me because he was weak. We started making jabs at each other. I said he was dumb, he said I was too short, I said his aim was shit… He made one about my arm, for a comeback I told him he stunck like a knu'ks. I don't know why, but ..." Kra'vyx let out a few more chuckles before turning towards Ja'anya.

"Ja'anya," Kra'vyx playfully said, "you smell like a knu'ks."

Ja'anya at first didn't react. Then taking a deep inhale she caught her own scent and Kra'vyx.

"Well, you're no bundle of se'sor either," she jokingly shot back. Kra'vyx stopped laughing to look at Ja'anya lopsided. Letting out a giggle then burst out roaring in laughter. Ja'anya watched for a moment before also joining in laughter. It wasn't as comforting as Kra'vyx's purring, but Ja'anya had to admit it felt good.

"I think we skip the 'cleansing' part of your plan and try and kill them with our stench."

"What are you guys laughing about?" K'on asked looking from around the corner. Slowly the two youths began to calm down and recompose themselves.

"Nothing, just needed to let go of some bad gas," Kra'vyx said rising. "My turn to leave a message?"

"Yeah," K'on offered the recording device which Kra'vyx took with a slight bow. K'on watch Kra'vyx go out of sight before turning to Ja'anya.

"What was that all about?" Ja'anya had been staring at ceiling of their hiding spot. Ja'anya let out a slow breath, feeling worlds better after interacting with Kra'vyx.

After Kra'vyx was done recording his message they gathered their meager belongings and headed for a nearby river to bathe. Each of them took turns in the water while the other two stood on guard. Without the proper cleaning salves they had to make do with hands full of sand or a rough rock to scrape their skin clean.

While K'on was bathing he suddenly called out for a Ki'cti-pa. Thinking he was in some sort of danger Ja'anya threw it without question. K'on caught the weapon the brought it down fiercely into the water. Not sure what to expect Ja'anya and Kra'vyx were dumb founded when K'on brought the tip of his spear back above water with an eel like creature wriggling wildly in its death throws.

"Paya blesses us with a meal before our hunt tonight," K'on called out, mandibles spread happily. K'on proudly marched out of the water with his kill in hand as if he was parading around the head of a kiandi amedha queen. Ja'anya prepared a small cooking fire while K'on cleaned his kill and Kra'vyx took his turn bathing.

The creature's meat provided much needed nutrients for their bodies. All of them felt rejuvenated after the meal and they retraced their steps to where they last confronted the bad-bloods. They soon picked up their trail as the bad-bloods thought their prey would only run and hide.

The light from the central star in the solar system soon hid behind the horizon as the air became colder and the shadows grew darker. The three unblooded silently continued to follow the trail left behind by the bad-bloods. Soon echoing off the trees they heard loud and boisterous singing. A hot glowing light in the distance informed the young hunters they had reached their destination.

Cautiously the trio approached the enemy camp as the loud singing continued to conceal their approach. Ja'anya motioned for them to split up and be mindful for any defenses. They spread themselves out equally around the perimeter of the camp far enough away to remain undetected. As Kra'vyx reached a good perch a wave of anger, disgust, and horror hit him as he looked down into the camp.

The first thing that got his attention were the three smaller bad-bloods dancing around a bonfire shouting and roaring songs of victory and carnage. Occasionally one would take a long drink from a jug each of them held. After consuming its contents their singing grew in volume and their chaotic dancing became more uncoordinated. Their masks were removed revealing them to be possibly just a little older than himself.

Not far from the bonfire the body of Hehk'eki hung inverted by a wooden tripod. A rope tied around one leg where the other was just a stump. The arms were bound to her sides. Her head was cut off and placed on a stave next to the body. Beneath the beheaded body a large bowl was paced as Kra'vyx watch several drops of blood fall into the full basin.

Adjacent to the body of Hehk'eki sat the Demon bad-blood sitting in a chair made from the trunk of a tree. He was leaning back relaxing as he watched the young members celebrating the kill he had made. His exposed face told of many battles he had experienced by a great number of scars and a broken mandible tip. His eyes, like his mask seemed to be super natural. Instead of glowing like fire they were cold, almost appearing like two black voids of a soulless being.

Hehk'eki's missing leg sat across the Demon bad-blood's lap. Kra'vyx stomach lurched at the sight of the half eaten limb. He knew to expect this, but it still didn't prepare him to actually see it. His was never shy around blood or gore before, but seeing someone he knew being the prey… he had a hard time taking in the sight.

Kra'vyx noticed one thing in their favor. They were all without their armor or weapons, only wearing a few choice articles of light clothing. Their armaments were stacked haphazardly in several different piles around the camp. He knew even without their weapons and armor they were still not to be under estimated.

Now all they had to do was wait for one of them to open themselves up for an attack.

Kra'vyx and the others had been hidden around the perimeter of the bad-blood camp for nearly an hour until the opportunity had finally presenting itself. The three younger bad-bloods had ended their dancing and appeared to be getting ready for sleep. One of them slowly walked into the shadows of the night beyond the light from the bonfire. Seeing the bad-blood shifting his loin cloth made it obvious he was doing.

Ja'anya was closest.

Kra'vyx had to smirk at how embarrassing a death the bad-blood was to receive. While he wished to see the bad-blood's life end he knew that he must be ready to attack the others still in the camp. Kra'vyx posed himself ready to pounce on the nearest bad-blood youth when Ja'anya finally attacked.

There was a soft sound of metal piercing flesh…

"MFFffff!"

Even though she covered the bad-bloods mouth the muffled cry of pain drew the attention of the other bad-bloods. By the time they had turned their heads to see a pair of blades sticking out of their companions chest Kra'vyx was already in midair heading for his target. The quick movement caused his cloaking field to disappear revealing himself to his intended target.

The bad-blood looked at Kra'vyx wide eyed with the Ki'cti-pa fully extended, intending to put a hole between his eyes. Realizing the mortal danger the bad-blood guarded himself with his forearm, catching the side of the Ki'cti-pa pushing the sharp point to stab thought his hair tendrils on the right side.

"ROOOOAAAAAARRRRR!" the bad-blood bellowed in pain. His cry was cut short as Kra'vyx after missing the killing strike fore went the weapon and full contact body slammed the bad-blood. Still recovering from the swiftness of the attack and now the pain of having a spear through his sensitive tendrils the bad-blood soon found himself receiving a beat down from Kra'vyx stranded above him. Kra'vyx watched gleefully as the bad-blood's head violently jerked left and right from the flurry of blows dealt on the dishonorable warrior beneath him.

"GAH!" Kra'vyx paused to look away from his opponent to see K'on knelt over as a bad-blood punched him in the gut. Ja'anya on the far side of the camp engaged with an unarmed demon bad-blood. She had done the smart thing by swiping a few of the bad-blood's weapons after her first kill. Now armed to the teeth she danced around her larger opponent delivering glancing blows, hoping she could wear her prey down from small wounds. All the while keeping the demon bad-blood away from weapons he might use.

"Stupid amedha," Kra'vyx felt himself being pushed over. Rolling away he was nearly hit by a kick from the bad-blood before righting himself into a crouch. "You only look away from a corpse."

"You are a corpse," Kra'vyx growled, "let me put you back in the dirt." Clenching his fist and flinching his wrist extending two blades from his gauntlet to their full length with a satisfying ring of metal. Kra'vyx lunged forward with a horizontal sweep of his blades. Nimbly the bad-blood skipped back, weaving, and dodging as Kra'vyx pressed his attacks.

Kra'vyx stepped forward closing the distance from the bad-blood bringing his blades down horizontally. The bad-blood hand grabbed hold of Kra'vyx wrist halting the assault. Snarling the bad-blood punched Kra'vyx in the side, making him grunt in pain. As the bad-blood wound back for another blow Kra'vyx intercepted it before it could hit him. The two hunters struggled against each other, pitting all their muscle and weight to throw the other off balance.

"You smell like the first one we killed," the bad-blood grinned as the words caught Kra'vyx attention. "Being the first time tasting the flesh of you weak amedha was hardly appetizing. The female though," the bad-blood looked at the inverted body of Hehk'eki, "she tastes sweeter. The teacher says if their unsoiled flower is just broken in it is quiet the delicacy." Despite having his mask on the bad-blood could tell Kra'vyx was reeling in disgust. "Maybe if I get that one," the bad-blood nodded in Ja'anya's direction, "I'll see if I like the flavor."

Something in Kra'vyx snapped.

*CRACK!* The bad-blooded didn't know what hit him but the world around him was unfocused as it seemed to be spinning around him. *CRACK!* The pain from the middle of his face rocked his senses again. *CRACK!* He couldn't see anymore, there was a film of something warm over his eyes shading everything in orange. *CRACK!* Whatever covering his eyes reached his mouth and he recognized the taste of blood. *CRACK!* There was pressure on his face like he was being smothered, but it was inside his skull. *CRK-SQUELCH!* It felt like his face was being pressed... *SQUELCH*…*SQUELCH*…*SQUELCH*…*SQUELCH* *SPLOCHT* *SPLOCHT* *SPLOCHT* *SPLU-UT*

*HUFF*, *HUFF*, *Huff*, *huff*,…*huff*…

"*ROOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!*"

*huff*…*huff*…

Kra'vyx couldn't see anything. Turning his head left then right, all he could see was black. Blinking a few times he finally thought to remove his mask, the imaging display apparently had broken. Removing it, the world finally came back to color. The first sight that greeting him was smashed face of the bad-blood. The front couldn't even be considered a face. It was an indent of blood, bone, muscle and flesh that was unrecognizable. He could maybe make out a tusk, possibly a bit of tongue, there was definitely a pieces of brain. Looking at his mask it was covered in blood and bits of flesh, he blinked, his mind was a bit foggy as if he was just getting over a headache.

'I just head-butted a bad-blood to death,' Kra'vyx finally realized as his short term memory finally caught up with whatever battle haze he finally emerged from. Before he could celebrate his victory something blindsided him.

"I'm impressed; you pups killed two of my students," Kra'vyx turned in panic to look for the source of the voice only find himself restrained by a net. Wiggling his head around he was able to make the massive demon bad-blood standing over the corpse of the student Kra'vyx had just killed. The massive demon looked down at the body with indifference, then an almost curious looked flashed onto its face.

Bending over the demon bad-blood reached down to the corpse's head as scooped up a wad of flesh. Kra'vyx mandibles dropped in disgust as the demon took a greedy bite out of the clump.

"Mhmmmm," the demon bad-blood purred in pleasure. "I might just keep you alive pup, you make a nice brain salad."

"…"

As the demon reached down to scoop another handful Kra'vyx wriggled against the net enough to see the rest of the camp. At the base of one of the trees Kra'vyx saw one of the smaller bad-bloods restraining Ja'anya to a tree. Her head lulled to one side as the bad-blood tied the rope tightly around her neck then wrapped it around the trunk of the tree. Her hands and feet were also anchored to trunk.

Kra'vyx eye continued to dart around the campsite looking for K'on. However, there was no sign of him. If he wasn't captured then that meant K'on had either escaped or had been killed.

"Looking for your boyfriend?" the demon asked watching Kra'vyx. "He's up there," the demon pointed. Kra'vyx followed the finger to see K'on with three spears pinning him to a tree at least halfway up the trunk. Two of the spears pierced through his torso and the third imbedded in his thigh. The warm blood flowed down the bark of the tree painting it in a bright color to Kra'vyx's eyes.

Despite the somber moment as Kra'vyx recognized the corpse of his fellow hunt-mate, he was now filled with fear as he twisted and struggled against the net that held him. He was now at the mercy of the demon bad-blood now looking over him. At the mercy of the one who had killed his brother.

"Master, the female is restrained," Kra'vyx head snapped to the younger bad-blood who was now bowing to the demon.

"Good work, and congratulations on your first trophy and prisoner. Your trials are nearly complete," the bad-blood half-heartedly praised. Kra'vyx could see the younger bad-blood's face light up with joy at the praise from his mentor. However, soon controlled his emotions to respond in a despondent tone.

"I have yet a long way to go before I am as-"

*snap*

Both heads of the bad-bloods turned to startling noise of a stick breaking. Kra'vyx turned his head hoping to see Ja'anya had somehow freed herself. That was wishful thinking as the image of their hunt leaders still restrained to her tree and unconscious. His eyes soon focused across the camp.

Being on the ground and having the blazing bonfire at the center of the camp did not help him see what had caused the disturbance. However, from what he could discern there was a bipedal figure on the other side of the camp.

"What is it? A native?" the young blood asked his master.

"Probably," the demon answered. "Just scare it out of the camp. We can hunt it tomorrow if these two don't prove to be entertaining."

"Yes, master," the younger bad-blood bowed in compliance. Walking toward the intruder the younger bad-blood started yelling at it. "Get out of here, move it," he use wide arm motions trying to shoo the creature away. The bad-blood kept this up until he had crossed half the distance to the creature.

"You certainly are dumb amedha," the bad-blood comment as the figure hadn't moved through verbal encouragement. Picking up a rock from the ground the bad-blood hurled the stone at the creature, "GET!"

The animal hoped out of the way of the thrown object. The bad-blood seemed dumbfounded that the creature had dodged the projectile. Thinking it was a fluke the bad-blood picked up another stone, throwing it harder than the first.

"LEAVE!" just like the first the stone missed its mark. "MOVE!" the third missed, "FUCKER!" missed, "LEAVE!", "BITCH!", "SHIT!", "MAGOT!"

"Having trouble?" the demon asked with a smirk.

"Just-just a little master," the demon rolled his eyes with annoyance as he walked forward.

"ROOOAAARRR!" The loud bellow from the demon vibrated the ground Kra'vyx lay on. The amount the dodging the creature had done avoiding the thrown stones had moved it to a spot where Kra'vyx could see it more clearly. It did not appear to be very tall, maybe 5 nok or so. It was definitely bi-pedal and it seemed to have a large mane around its face. It was warm blooded as it stood out from the cold night in a vibrant red. Around the face what Kra'vyx guessed were eye sockets and nasal cavity appeared in a slightly colder hue. "It is a stupid piece of meat," the demon agreed as the animal only cocked its head at the roar.

"ROOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!" The demon roared again doubling the volume. The creature stood its ground and at the second roar its posture changed. It stood up straight as it could appearing just a little taller. Its shoulder straightened to face the demon bad-blood directly. It slowly crossed its arms across its chest, its chest expanded as inhale before jutting its arms out.

"RRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!" The amount of volume the small creature emitted was beyond staggering. As it put the demon's roar to shame as Kra'vyx swore the tree swayed and the wind was suddenly being summoned from the still air. However, the immense volume of the roar wasn't what truly amazed Kra'vyx.

In the maroon eye sockets a pair of white halo appeared. Beaming with a divine heat of a thousand suns, it gazed at the demon bad-blood.

**A/N: Thank you all for waiting for this next installment and I do hope you comment, follow and/or fav. Again thank you to all you who have provided input and I hope to rely on your advice in the future until next time, Peace.**

**Yautja word index:**

**kiandi amedha – hard meat, xenomorph**

**Cetanu – God of Death, the Black Hunter**

**Dah'kte – wrist blade**

**Chakt-ras – hunter disc or smart disc**

**Ki'cti-pa – combistick/spear**

**dah'nagara – short sword**

**Kainde Amedha Chiva - hard meat hunt**

**Lilka - Refered to as 'The Goddess', Goddess of home, hearth, and Life**

**pyode amedha – soft meat**

**chiva – hunt**

**knu'ks – I don't have a list of Yautja animals so "knu'ks" is skunk backwards. So that sentence reads "stuck like a skunk"**

**se'sor – Same concept as skunk, so flip it around, remove the apostrophe and what do you get? (you're a smart bunch I don't have to spell it out for you) You know I'm starting to wonder… should keep doing this whole Yautja language thing? Don't get me wrong I'm having fun doing the how word reverse thing with an added apostrophe. However as a reader do you find it annoying? Comment on this please.**


	5. Interruptions

**A/N: Welcome back to another chapter. Sorry to keep people waiting, but the day job takes priority. Hope everyone had a wonderful Ramadan, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years and all that jazz.**

**Thank you 'Clear as Mud', 'AAEdmonds', 'BlueDragon576', 'The Book of Eli' and other past reviews and hope you are not disappointed with this chapter after this long wait.**

**A special thanks to Khalthar for his help reviewing and editing this chapter.**

**And without further to do, DISCLAIMER AND THE STORY!**

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with others.**

Chapter 5: Interruption

*BOOM* *Rummmbbbllleeee* Yahto eyes slowly opened adjusting to the pre-dawn light. He thought he heard the sound of thunder, but looked up at a clear sky. 'Maybe a storm in the distance,' he thought to himself. Sitting up he raised his head to see above the tall grass. The sky was clear of clouds in all directions. He focused on his surroundings trying to discover the disturbance.

Eventually, his gaze and other senses focused on a window of sky just above where the sun was soon to make an appearance. There was something there. A brief glimmer of something as it caught the sunlight over the horizon reflected at him. In fact he thought he could see two somethings, the second just a little higher and to the left of the first.

He squinted trying to make out the two dots. Just as his eyes were getting adjusted the second dot disappeared. Guessing it was just his groggy vision seeing doubles he didn't think about it. The single dot was getting darker, more defined and larger. Standing up he cupped his hands around his eyes continuing to focus.

As he started to make out a defined silhouette. He could tell it was artificial, not a large meteor. So he was guessing whatever it was had just broken through the atmosphere creating a sonic boom he mistook for thunder. As he watched it he realized that it was still getting bigger, not really changing direction, coming straight at him. Coming closer straight at him. Really fast!

The sudden burst of energy from that realization made him look around wide eyed. Grabbing his pack, sleeping pad, bundle of spears and other belongs he started running in a perpendicular line away from the object's decent. As he ran he continued to monitor it making sure he wasn't going directly into its vector.

When Yahto deemed himself safe he stopped to watch it crash. It dipped below the horizon just for a few seconds before he heard the 'THUD' of something hitting soft dirt followed by a vibration through the ground.

There was a whistling noise for a brief second then another 'THUD' followed by what sounded like an avalanche. The direction of the sound changed as the plume of dust went past Yahto continuing its journey. The rumbling avalanche declined in volume as the dust cloud got smaller and smaller and disappeared over the small hills.

The grassy field soon became quiet again.

Blinking a few times Yahto tried to comprehend what had just waken him up. A spaceship had just crash landed right in front of him. What were the odds of that happening? If he had to guess it would be close to one in infinity.

He could see a large plume of black smoke in the distance. He hadn't seen black smoke on this planet since he first arrived here; it was so foreign to him.

Two sides inside him battle on what to do. He was curious, what was a ship doing out this far beyond the human frontier? Had society changed at all since he had left? What new discoveries have been made? Had they found a cure to cancer or the common cold?

He was indeed curious who had just crash landed. However he was here to get away from everything; people, technology, rules, etc. If he went to that crash site he would soon have to be subjugated to such things. If there were any survivors in that craft they would see him as some long lost traveler who had become primitive from not living in a modern human society. They would force their way of thinking on him, their way of doing things; he would lose the freedom to be his true self.

He scratched his beard as he pondered his next move.

In the back of his head a small voice became louder and louder until finally he could hear it. Maybe they aren't bad people. Maybe they were just like him trying to get away from it all. Maybe they needed help.

Yahto looked back at the smoke climbing higher into the sky.

The argument in his head continued as he walked down the center of the giant gorge the crashed ship had carved into the landscape. He had stopped several times during his trek to inspect large chunks of metal that he assumed were once part of the hull. From what he could tell there were no distinguishing characteristics about the debris hinting to what kind of ship it was.

He took his time getting to the crash site. Sure there might be survivors, but in his mind it really wasn't his concern if anybody lived or died. He had spent most of his life thinking he could make a difference and in some cases he could, but in a situation like this he figured that if someone was going to survive they could last long enough for him to get there. The whole debate of fate, destiny, free will and the 'unknown' still gave him headaches despite his age. While the attitude might have seemed cold hearted or defeatist he knew that sometimes there was nothing anybody could do.

The debate in his head on whether or not he should pick up the pace was interrupted by a loud explosion. Looking up a dome of bright blue radiated from down the gorge. He had seen many different types of explosions in his lifetime from the size of a firecracker to a nuclear bomb. The way the dome of energy seemed to build on itself seemed to be nuclear, but it was slower as if the particles were heavier. The just as it was starting to dissipate, bolts of electricity flashed across the dome's surface. Yakto could feel the ionized air from where he stood.

"Cooool," Yahto said continuing to watch the end of the gorge hoping for a repeat performance. Whatever had just blown up must have been some sort of new power source for it to give such an impressive light show. So it seemed humanity had made some technological advancements since the time he'd been gone.

He was now glad that he didn't suddenly rush to the crash site to look to survivors. He could have died in a very cool looking explosion. Dying hurt like hell, but it was the coming back that always seemed to have a larger shock. Yahto pondered why this was until he reached the source of the explosion.

Standing on the edge of the crater there wasn't anything to left to hint that there had been a ship here previously. If Yahto hadn't been there to witness the crash he would almost had thought it had be a meteor crater; a two kilometer crater. What was even more perplexing was with that explosion in a field of grass there weren't any fires. All the fires were contained inside the crater. It was bizarre. And what was even more peculiar were the things that were burning looked like chunks of metal.

Climbing into the crater he tried to get close to one of the burning pieces, but couldn't get close because of the extreme heat. From where he stood though he recognized the same texture and color of the other metal he found walking down the gorge. How can metal burn like this? Some sort of chemical reaction? Yahto watched the chunks of metal seemed to evaporate leaving nothing but a black splotch inside the crater.

Yatho walked around the crater looking for anything that could have been from the ship, but his search found nothing. Realizing the pointless effort to keep searching he hiked back to rim of the crater. If there were survivors there would a trail going away from the crater. Taking an extremely slow pace he looked for any evidence that somebody had made it out alive.

The slow meticulous search resulted in a narrow path of grass laying down. Taking one of his spears he staked it into the ground to mark the spot. Yahto continued around the perimeter of the crater looking for any other signs. Finding none he returned to his first discovery. Retrieving his spear he started walking down path of beaten grass.

It was clear that there were more than a few that survived. He could make out at least five distinct sets of tracks. What was even more amazing was there size. Last he remembered Yahto had a size 12 foot, placing his own foot inside a more defined footprint he had the guess the survivor had a size 17! Had humanity evolved into giants? Did they let NBA players practice polygamy? Perhaps genetic modification?

Whoever it was, Yahto was now very interested to meet them. He was always drawn to things he did not know the answer for and he definitely had questions for these visitors.

The excitement of something unexplained and new encouraged Yahto to walk a little faster as he followed the tracks. He began making a list of questions in his head, rearranging and ordering them as he went. Who are you? What is your name? Why did you crash? Are you injured? … Crap, what if they didn't speak the same language? Or humanity had evolved into telepathic beings? Unlikely, but not impossible. Needless to say any previous thoughts of not wanting to meet his new neighbors were buried under the compilation of questions Yahto was going to ask.

Dusk snuck up on Yahto without warning. It wasn't until his back protested in pain from hunching over all day looking for tracks that it was time to get some rest. Not that he really needed it. He could keep going for a couple days before feeling fatigue. However he reasoned that introducing himself to his guests in the middle of the night would be unwise.

Yahto continued to come up with questions, but one was now very troublesome. Why did the survivors leave the crash site? He understood if their power source was going to explode it was a very good idea to leave the area. After it did explode though, why did they keep going? If there was a rescue search it would make sense to try and stay near the where their ship had originally crashed. Yahto didn't rule out the possibility the survivors had an emergency transmitter and were looking for better shelter. Wouldn't be easier for their rescuers to find then where they stood out? They couldn't do much better than an open field with a gorge and two kilometer crater.

Just another question in the long list.

Yahto set down his things down. Stretching his muscles after the long day of hiking brought a sigh of relief. Going through his pack he pulled put what he considered to be this planet's sweet potato. However, it looked more like a neon blue starfish than a spud. After cooking it though it tasted just like a sweet potato. Yahto wished he could get some butter and brown sugar to caramelize them. Despite the minimal meal Yahto enjoyed it.

'_Simple life, simple happiness,'_ he thought. Finishing his dinner Yahto pulled out his bedroll laying it out on the ground. Looking up at the night sky he started to go over the constellations and stars he had named. The lane, salmon, behemoth, eagle, arc, butterfly, crab, compass, and more. There were still thousands he had yet to name. Tonight he will find something to remember today.

He stayed up late watching the heavens slowly reveal more as the planet turned. His imagination drawing lines between the different points of light to create shapes as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. Finally, after hours of looking he saw it, 'The Crash'. A row of three stars leading to three more stars in a rough equilateral triangle. The three stars in a row were the gorge he walked down. The triangle of stars was the crater. He smiled proudly to himself looking at the newly named constellation till he fell asleep.

At first light Yahto was up and chomping at the bit. Rapidly going through his morning routine he picked up the trail where he had left off walking at a brisk pace. The dirt still preserved the tracks the survivors had left yesterday. They would probably be there for a long time or until the next rainstorm. It was mid-morning when he came upon something interesting.

Seemingly out of nowhere four more sets of tracks appeared. Walking around where these new foot prints appeared he couldn't figure out where they came from. Practically materializing out of thin air. He was certain these were new, and not from the survivors doubling back on themselves because three of these new tracks where slightly larger with one pair being definitely larger. If he was a size 12 shoe size and the survivors where about a 17, then this person had to be a size 20. By the way the footprint was also indented into the ground they also had to weigh something ridiculous.

Dubbing the new visitor Bigfoot for the lack of any other defining characteristic Yahto continued on his way. The three additional persons plus Bigfoot made the trail he was following standout like an asphalt road. He didn't have to try very hard, which made everything more relaxing.

As he continued walking Yahto noticed the path heading for a forested area. He was getting even more curious when he smelled something burnt. He didn't see any whiffs of smoke so the fire must have been from last night or early this morning. As he came to a rise he was able to see the tree-line clearly and just outside of it there looked to be a camp of sorts. From the distance he could definitely see a fire pit at the center. A few logs had be dragged out to sit on and there seemed to be a tripod set up for cooking over the fire. However, one thing seemed to stand out above all the rest.

Just outside the ring of logs used for seating there was something standing up. Being so far away it almost looked like a dirty floor mop staked into the ground with the mop head up. As he neared the details became clearer, but still could not identify it. Yahto continued to near the camp completely focused on the object.

"What the hell?" Yahto whispered quietly as he finally made it around to look at the front of the object.

It was a head.

There was definitely a pair of eyes, a brow, forehead and that was where the similarities basically ended. The mouth was absolutely hideous. Four finger like mandibles, two above coming from the cheek bone and two below folded against the jaw line. In between the mandibles there was a mouth with two rows of white teeth on top and bottom. The end of each mandible came to a fang or tusk, the teeth were sharp and the mouth by itself gave the impression that this creature had carnivorous diet. There were no lips on the mouth nor any visible nose and ears. Coming out of the back of the head were long black tendrils which made him think it looked like a mop from a distance. He leaned in closer to get a look at a tendril and it did in fact look like a single piece. Not a group of hairs woven together like dreadlocks on a human. Some of the tendrils had silver bands, a few closer to the front had symbols etched into them.

The said head was posted on top of a wooded pike with a florescent neon green liquid leaking from the severed neck. Despite it obviously being very dead Yahto refrained from touching it. Instead inspecting it very closely, committing every detail to memory. The color and texture of the skin, the eye color, the shape of the teeth, the length of the hair tendrils, the smell; and boy did it smell.

"An alien… A HONEST TO GOODNESS EXTRATERRESTRIAL!" Yahto cried out in wonder. Everything in Yahto's mind began to reorganize themselves with this realization. His mind raced as he began to walk in circles pulling on his long hair. The space ship that had crashed wasn't human it was… this 'thing's' ship. There was more life in the universe. The universe was infinite so there was always the possibility that humanity wasn't alone. Yahto's mind became a tempest of questions all driven by his curiosity. His pacing in circles and spike in mental activity soon overwhelmed him, making him feel dizzy. Overcome by a feeling of vertigo Yahto fell to the ground.

"Aliens…What are the odds," Yahto asked to the sky with a smile. He lay there unmoving completely amazed and dumbfounded by his discovery. His maelstrom of thoughts eventually settled focusing on one observation. Then Yahto blinked, propping himself up on his elbows to look at the head.

"Why are you just a head?"

He asked the question out loud, half expecting the alien head to answer him. However, a head on a wood pike for some reason didn't make sense. These alien visitors crash landed on the planet, survived the crash, walked a very long ways then kills one of their companions and puts their head on a pike…that didn't make any logical sense. Then again Yahto was approaching this with human logic.

If it were humans who did this to another human would be considered very barbaric. The message it would have conveyed though would have been one of warning, possibly to antagonize or demoralize an enemy and possibly a show of force. Maybe this alien crew member made them crash and this was their punishment… but where the heck was the rest of their body? Yahto stood up to inspect the rest of the campsite.

His attention was first drawn to the fire pit. Besides footprints around it and the tripod possibly used to cook something over it there were no other clues. Looking down at the footprints he could tell that Bigfoot was definitely here. What puzzled Yahto though was that there were only three other sets of footprints. Bigfoot and these three where the same tracks that mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. The original five pairs of tracks he was following before were nowhere around the campfire.

Yahto expanded his search going to the logs used as seats around the campfire. His blood went cold when he saw what was behind the first one; a half-eaten arm. Not wanting to disturb anything he made his way around the camp site mentally piecing the different body parts he found in his head.

The alien was bi-pedal probably standing a foot or taller than himself. Yahto found the chest cavity opened and all the internal organs removed. From what he could tell inspecting the other body parts was the aliens had a skeletal structure. Various limbs had obvious bite marks made by teeth similar to the pair of jaws he found on the head. Yahto's mood became cold and reserved as he kept himself impartial as to why the survivors had resorted to cannibalism.

Trying to remember the time table from yesterday's crash there was a rather lengthy period between the crash and the explosion. Enough time, Yahto guessed, for the survivors to gather enough supplies before leaving the crash site. So the survivors probably didn't have to resort to cannibalism; so then why did they? Yahto reminded himself that most of his understanding and lines of thought were based on his knowledge of human culture. So trying to comprehend what was going on would need more research. Giving the campsite one last look over Yahto followed the footprints away from the fire pit towards the forest.

Bigfoot and his three companions had trekked through this path multiple times. They apparently went into the forest earlier, returned to the camp and were now currently somewhere in the forest. The five sets of tracks he had been following from the start only had them going into the forest once, no trips back. It was somewhat easier to follow the trail this time because there were splotches of florescent green every so often. Thinking back to the head and the different body parts he found Yahto guessed this was blood; or whatever functioned as blood in their biology. That raised two more questions. The first about their biology, second about why was the victim killed in the forest and not at the camp.

Just before mid-day Yahto came across his next major discovery. An absolutely demolished section of forest. A tree had fallen over, scorch marks scattered everywhere, there were still small fires burning. The footprints he had been following were unorganized, scattered and difficult to track. Instead Yahto decided to follow the fluorescent green blood trail. It soon ended on a very large splotch of 'blood' on the side of a tree. Near the center there was a chunk of bark missing from what appeared to be a puncture hole.

'So this is where the alien died,' Yahto thought the turned to look around at the destruction. 'What in God's name happened here?'

Yahto spent the rest of the daylight hours inspecting the scene. The foot prints left were chaotic and the actions of the one who left them where confusing. It only added to the confusion when he found claw marks on some of the trees signifying that they had been climbed. In the roots of one of the trees near the center of the destruction he could faintly make out three depressions that looked like someone had laid there. Every so often he would see shattered pieces of metal. There wasn't enough to piece together what they were originally from, but from what he was able to gather it had some sort of bladed edge. In the twilight Yahto finally came to a relative conclusion as to what had happened.

There had been a fight between the survivors and Bigfoot's companions. He didn't know the blow by blow of the battle but it was obvious that it ended with the death of the victim he had found at the fire pit. After that the two groups went their separate ways. Bigfoot with his three companions heading back towards the fire pit. The five survivors heading in the opposite direction, deeper into the forest.

'So there had originally been six survivors', Yahto noted. Noticing darkness swiftly approaching he put some distance away from the battlefield before finding shelter. As he went he picked up some native plants that he knew would make a filling dinner. As he prepared and consumed his meal Yahto reviewed what he had witnessed thus far. Trying to make more sense out of it. It was hard to figure out. Were these two factions at war? Some sort of family grudge? Why would such an 'advanced' species capable of space travel resort to fighting with melee weapons? What kind of weapon made those scorch marks?

Yahto looked up at the ceiling of tree branches and leaves, somewhat missing his starry night sky. The questions he had soon settled to the back of his mind then sleep soon followed.

**\- Two Days Later -**

Yahto was getting increasingly frustrated. The night before he had decided to track the aliens through the night in the hope he might catch up with them. He had been tracking the two different groups of aliens and had yet to catch up with them. He seemed to always be a day behind. He had found another camp just this morning that was similar to the first one he found. Fire pit at the center, a head on a wood pike and eaten body parts around where they had been sitting.

It had gotten increasingly difficult since now it seemed like the majority of the traveling the aliens did was in the trees. For some reason the image of an alien clothed in a ninja outfit jumping from tree to tree got stuck in Yahto's mind. He was amazed at some of the great leaps the aliens had to take to get from one tree to the next. Some had to be at least twenty yards. The amount of strength to be able to do that was well beyond any human standards.

Walking around the camp he had discovered that morning He must have missed them by just an hour or so. The campfire was still hot and their excrement was still steaming in the cool morning air. Finally wanting to actually see these aliens whole and alive he decided to run. Normally this would be an easy way to miss any signs, but Bigfoot seemed to prefer the ground more than the trees. The trail Bigfoot left behind was plain enough for a blind man to follow. The deep foot imprints were hard to miss. Yahto tore through the forest as fast as he could his curious nature motivating him to run faster.

It had been a few hours till he finally heard noises in the distance. There was definitely the sound of metal striking metal, heavy foot falls as well as… 'growling'? Cautiously Yahto slowed his pace, darting from tree to tree for cover. Gradually the sound grew louder. Slowly leaning around a tree he finally caught sight of them.

He couldn't exactly describe what was going on. He knew it was a fight, he could recognize that, but by human standards it had the brutality of a heavy weight boxing match and the grace of choreographed kung-fu. It was truly amazing.

It was easy to tell who was on which side of the conflict. The four aliens armored in a silver steel colored armor were the ones he had labeled the survivors. The three darker armored were the companions of Bigfoot. Speaking of which where was Bigfoot? Yahto did another sweep of the area and did not see the massive alien present. Worrying about that for later he focused back on the fight.

The aliens locked in combat all had a similar dress. Each had a metal mask covering their face, none were uniform showing that they had been customized by their wearer. All wore some sort of armor, like the masks they were to the wearer's preference. A common feature though seemed to be a metallic net like weave covering exposed areas. Another common feature seemed to be their gauntlets. Though in different 'styles' or 'models' each seemed to have some sort of gauntlet that sprouted a pair of blades.

Currently it seemed like the survivors were winning at the moment. One of the 'Bigfoot companions' lay on the ground unmoving with what looked to be no apparent damage. The other two were holding their ground, but were receiving quite the pounding. One of the survivors seemed very skilled as they wielded a spear of some sort. They were just a little taller than the rest, and also had a crest made of a red stone or jewel at the center of their chest plate. This one seemed to be giving orders to the other three with what sounded like growls, clicks and other noises. Under the instruction of the 'red stone', the survivor's attacks were coordinated, precise and unrelenting causing the 'Bigfoot's companions' to lose ground.

In a flash of blades and limbs that was difficult to follow one more of 'Bigfoot's companions' had fallen to the ground, but was still able to move. Before they could recover one of the survivors sprinted forward gauntlet blades extended. A yard away from the killing strike the survivor inexplicability flew backwards. The whole fight halted as the two sides separated maintaining a defensive stance ready to resume.

In a soft flash of blue electricity a large figure appeared over the fallen fighter. Seeing how this one towered over everyone else by at least two heads Yahto guessed that this was 'Bigfoot'. Yahto was impressed by the technological capability to produce a seamless active camouflage for an individual to sneak into a fight like that. After marveling at what other technologies the aliens could possibly have he inspected 'Bigfoot' with a critical eye.

'Bigfoot' had similar metal armor like the other aliens, but it was heavily accented with bones, claws and what appeared to be skulls. He could make out the torso which was covered with a ribcage, the shoulders had some sort of elongated head and the mask was decorated with the skull of one of its own species. Yahto almost had the thought that this was some sort of death metal band member or maybe a costume for a Dia de Muertos parade. However, the overall impression Yahto got from the giant that he was older, more experienced and definitely not someone you would want to cross. It seemed like the survivors shared a similar opinion by the way they seeming wanted to flee. 'Bigfoot' didn't give them the opportunity.

'Bigfoot' launched into the middle of the three survivors with a flash of metal. The survivors nimbly dodged his attacks, preferring to stay on the move. They would try and out maneuver their larger opponent to try and strike from one of the blind spots. 'Bigfoot' though seemed to block each attack with almost a bored and indifferent attitude, giving the impression that these survivors weren't really worth his time. It did seem to give 'Bigfoot' some sort of joy seeing the three struggle against him. 'Red stone' continued to give clicks and growls to their fellow survivors, helping coordinated defense and attack.

In a bold move one of the survivors slipped under a horizontal strike from 'Bigfoot' driving a small knife into 'Bigfoot's' abdomen. It let out a sort bark of pain before clasping both hands together above its head then bring them down on the survivor. The survivor brought both his hands up to block with a cross guard, but 'Bigfoot's' strike broke through without any effort. The survivor literally bounced a good yard high off the ground from the blow falling back to the forest floor unmoving.

'Red stone' and the last survivor standing shared a worried glance before continuing their attack. Yahto lost count how many times 'Bigfoot' was struck and how many times the survivors had dodged a killing blow. It was unreal how hard and long they fought without breaks or even a breather. Still he noticed how 'Bigfoot' didn't seem to take this fight seriously, allowing some blows to land that he could have blocked if he wanted. There was a serious number of parries he could followed through on that would have ended the fight. 'Bigfoot's' companions had all recovered as the three of them stood of to the side observing, not reengaging in battle.

Either on purpose or arrogance Yahto noticed 'Bigfoot' left himself open; 'Red stone' saw this as well. Without hesitation 'Red stone' dove and rolled underneath the larger opponent attacking the legs as they went by. Then springing out of their roll 'Red stone' threw every weapon they head into 'Bigfoot's' exposed back. Yahto was confused why 'Red stone' didn't continue their attack when he realized they were heading to recover the fallen teammates.

'Bigfoot' sensing that their game was soon over disarmed the last survivor in the blink of an eye, before clasping a massive hand around its neck. The survivor struggled best they could, trying to pry themselves free of the grip while delivering as many kicks and punches they could. 'Red stone' turned to witness the sight of 'Bigfoot' gripping their last teammate by the neck. Yahto reeled back as 'Bigfoot' flicked their wrist hearing sickening snap. The survivor's body went limp. The amount of strength 'Bigfoot' had to simply snap someone's neck like that was startling.

Yahto jumped as there was massive roar of sorrow causing the battlefield to fall silent. 'Red stone' with two teammates on their shoulders seemed conflicted. Trembling 'Red stone' ran back into the forest. Yahto's mood of excitement to meet the aliens became soiled with sorrow. His gaze fell to the ground feeling depressed. Even though he wasn't friends or even acquaintances with the aliens he still felt saddened at the loss of life.

Yahto's gaze returned forward when he heard yelling. He didn't know what was being said, but 'Bigfoot' seemed to be giving an ass-chewing to their smaller companions. They walked back and forth like a drill sergeant in front a bunch of greenhorn recruits speaking a foreign language that Yahto couldn't make heads or tails of. One of the companions tried to say something, but 'Bigfoot' backhanded the smaller alien, sending them flying back into a tree. Yahto winced at the sickening crunching sound the alien made when it hit the tree. 'Bigfoot's' voice increased in volume making the remaining two cower in place.

With a disappointed grunt 'Bigfoot' gave a dismissive wave of his hand. The two companions scurried away collecting their third member from where they still laid. 'Bigfoot' went back to where they had killed the survivor. It seemed to be inspecting it carefully. Yahto got confused as 'Bigfoot' began to undo their belt, pulling their pants down.

'_Okay what the hell,' _Yahto thought when he saw the alien appeared to have a human looking penis and testicles; and for some reason he, 'Bigfoot', had an erection. In confusion as to why the alien would drop his drawers Yahto had a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach as 'Bigfoot' reached for the corpse. 'Bigfoot' extended the blades in his gauntlet then brought them closer…

'_No…'_ Yahto watched in captivated horror as 'Bigfoot' expertly cut way the armor and coverings from the corpse to reveal no external genitalia, only what seem to be a crease at the crotch. 'Bigfoot' roughly lifted the limp body up, giving a one armed bear hug. With his other hand he gripped the length of his cock lining it up…

'_Fuck no,' _Yahto turned away, but didn't think to cover his ears when he heard a loud slap of flesh on flesh accompanied by a satisfying growl. Staying low Yahto crept away until the sounds of … necrophilia, could no longer be heard. Yahto had lived through a lot, had seen a lot, had experienced almost everything a human could. There are some things he has never and would never do. Those things, even with the long life he's had, still shocked him. Finding a place far away he sat at the base of a tree desperately trying to erase the image from his mind.

For some bizarre reason Yahto's mind was trying to find a logical 'human' purpose to… fuck the corpse of a dead woman. All of them were bad; only very bad and screwed up people would disrespect the dead like that. He didn't know if this was some sort of alien culture thing, but if it was it was disgusting.

Prying his mind away from the disturbing, he focused on what else he had observed. The aliens were very skilled fighters, it was on the same level as elite military soldier or martial arts masters. The way the two groups interacted the survivors and 'Bigfoot's' gang were definitely enemies. For some reason though 'Bigfoot' didn't fit in with everyone else. He seemed to be on a higher plateau when it came to fighting skill. Yahto guessed 'Bigfoot' was some sort of master or teacher, with his three smaller companions being his students. The way they behaved at the end of the fight with the 'scolding' supported this theory.

"So why bring students to a deathmatch?" Yahto still didn't have the full picture. The crash, the cannibalism, the fighting, the who, what and why… _'still so many questions.'_ Yahto's appetite of curiosity seemed to have returned. Yahto slowly stood up, looking back towards where he had witnessed the aliens. He knew what 'Bigfoot' and his companions were like now, he needed to watch the 'survivors' now. Stealthily Yahto made his way back then found 'red stone's' trail. He went as quickly and quietly as he could trying to stay behind cover when he could.

It was near mid-afternoon when Yahto finally found where the survivors had setup camp. Staying to the shadows and moving at a snail's pace to remain silent he was able to get in a good spot to observe them. The three survivors seemed to having a very serious meeting. If he interpreted their body language correctly they seemed entranced as 'Red stone' talked. As the one sided conversation progressed the survivors seemed to become excited, their slouched sitting posture straightening. 'Red stone's' voice become louder more confident as they spoke. The three survivors seemed to be discussing something together when 'Red stone' said something that made the conversation halt abruptly. The improved mood evaporated as the three returned to a sitting in a discouraged slouch.

'Red stone' started to speak again slowly and carefully. Even though Yahto still couldn't understand them he paid close attention, hoping he could begin to understand them. One of the survivors slowly stood up taking a device from 'Red stone'. He watched them go off a short distance away, fiddle with the device before talking to it. Looking back 'Red stone' and the remaining survivor had gone silent. Very cautiously the remaining survivor crawled next to 'Red stone' leaning up against their back. Then there was a deep and powerful rumbling, coming from remaining survivor. Yahto blinked a few times before realizing it sounded like purring from a large cat.

'_They look more reptilian than feline,'_ Yahto pondered. 'Red stone' and the remaining survivor, who Yahto now would call 'Rumbles', seemed to relax as the purred to each other. The scene brought a smile to Yahto's face. For some reason Yahto seemed to think he was intruding on an intimate moment so he decided that they didn't need a stalker. Just a quietly as he came, Yahto withdrew into the forest to find a perch in a tree far enough away to where he could see them. He was thankful he left when he did as his stomach rumbled angrily, reminding him he hadn't eaten in about twenty-four hours. Pulling out something that looked a mad-scientist had genetically crossed a yellow squash with a pineapple that tasted like Brussels sprouts Yahto half heartedly ate his meal.

He had just taken the first couple of bites when the three alien survivors suddenly ran right past his tree. Wide eyed Yahto quickly got down to pursue while still munching on the fruit he was holding, _'or is it a vegetable? I don't see any seeds.' _Yahto soon lost them, having to rely on following the tracks. No sooner had he caught sight of them again near a pool of water they ran off again.

'_Oh come on, is this keep away or something?' _Noticing how fast they were traveling Yahto knew if he followed them at his current pace he would lose them again. Despite his displeasure he grinned at the idea of a race. Going into a sprint he tried to keep sight of them, however the growing distance between them and the falling curtain of night there was little he could do before having to follow their tracks again.

Yahto kept running for what felt like hours before he heard the sounds of another fight. Again sticking to the shadows he climbed a tree for a better position. Looking down at the camp he recognized the body of the female he saw 'Bigfoot' violate earlier hanging from a tripod. It and been butchered with one leg missing, the image made Yahto feel anger towards the one who did this. Continuing his sweep he saw one of 'Bigfoot's' companions was definitely dead laying in a very large puddle of its own florescent green blood. 'Bigfoot' and 'Red stone' were fighting each other in a highly aerobatic fashion. 'Rumbles' and the other survivor both faced their own opponent. 'Bigfoot' and his companions were not wearing their armor so it suggested 'Red stone' and their friends had ambushed them in a very disadvantaged moment. Now having a bias against 'Bigfoot', Yahto silently rooted for the survivors.

He watched the 'ambushees' with great interest, because besides not wearing their armor they weren't wearing their masks either. Watching how their faces showed emotions, how their mandibles and mouths moved to produce sounds. Yahto's eyes flitted between the three separate fights not wanting to miss anything, at the moment the survivors seemed to be winning. Of course that changed in an instant.

The survivor that he had yet to name kicked their opponent back causing them to fall into a pile of armor. The survivor froze in shock as their opponent reached into the pile pulling out what looked like a rocket launcher. Without hesitating the fallen fighter pulled the trigger to the weapon with a wildly pleased grin as the survivor flew back. Yahto stifled a gasp as the survivor was impaled to a tree with what looked like a barbed harpoon; dying instantly.

"GAH!"

Yahto's attention returned to the fight below. 'Red stone' had been tackled onto the ground by 'Bigfoot'. He held 'Red Stone's' wrists above their head with one hand, while kneeling on the thighs to keep them in place. With 'Bigfoot's' other hand he tracked it up and down 'Red stone's' body very sensually. Yahto's eyes widened, _'is Redstone a female too?'_ If they were Yahto dreaded what was going to happen to her.

*CRACK!*

The loud sound made Yahto turn to the other side of the camp where 'Rumbles' had just head-butted his opponent. *CRACK!* Another head-butt. *CRACK!* Another *CRACK!* and another *CRACK!* another… *CRACK!*…*CRK-SQUELCH!*…*SQUELCH* *SQUELCH* *SQUELCH* *SQUELCH* *SPLOCHT* *SPLOCHT* *SPLOCHT* *SPLU-UT*

*HUFF*, *HUFF*, *Huff*, *huff*,…*huff*…

"*ROOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!*"

'…_Rumbles. Is. A. Total Bad-Ass,'_ Yahto watched in amazement. _'Head butting someone to death, that is some 'yippee ki-yay motherfucker' shit right there.'_ He couldn't help, but have a wide toothy smile at the site. _'Oh no…'_

On the other side of the camp Yahto wasn't the only one who noticed 'Rumbles' victory, 'Bigfoot' and his last companion stood over 'Red stone' transfixed. Reaching down 'Bigfoot' pulled off a gun looking weapon of 'Red stone's' belt. Pressing a few buttons on the gun 'Bigfoot' then aimed it at 'Rumbles' and fired. 'Rumbles' still recovering from the possibly self-inflicted concussion was blindsided by a net. 'Bigfoot' gave his a companion a nod with a few short words before walking over towards 'Rumbles' speaking in a congratulatory tone.

'Bigfoot's' companion struck 'Red stone's' face hard either stunning them or knocking them unconscious. Dragging the unresponsive alien to a nearby tree 'Bigfoot's' companion began to take some cord tying their defeated advisory to the trunk. They also bound the hand and arms together tightly. Before leaving to join 'Bigfoot', the 'Bastard' reached down grabbing 'Red stone's' crotch. Righteous fury welled up inside Yahto as he saw the sickening grin spread across the 'Bastard's' face. The 'Bastard' was only wearing a lion cloth that now seemed rising from its flaccid position. The anger in Yahto's heart burned hotter. He needed to do something, Star Trek prime directive bullshit be damned.

Yahto hastened to descend the tree had climbed coming up with a plan on the fly. Still hiding behind the tree he finalized his thoughts taking a deep breath before he made is move.

*snap*

Just standing inside the light of the campfire Yahto froze as 'Bigfoot' and 'Bastard' spun around to face him. 'Rumbles' still trapped in the net struggled against it to get a look at him as well. 'Bigfoot' and 'Bastard' quietly said something to each other before 'Bastard' started walking forward yelling in its alien language waving its arms. 'Bastard' kept this up until he was about thirty yards away from Yahto. The alien muttered something under its breath before picking a stone off the ground. As the 'Bastard's' arm came back Yahto preemptively hopped to the side, suppressing a smirk as the stone whizzed past.

Yahto repeated this little game seven more times as the 'Bastard' got more and more frustrated. In the background 'Bigfoot' seemed to be getting annoyed as he finally walked up to his companion.

"ROOOAAARRR!" Yahto paused, to tilt his head to one side raising a questioning eyebrow. Mimicking how he remembered dogs would tilt their head when they saw or heard something strange. _'Be naive,'_ Yahto told himself, _'make him think that you're some sort of stone age neanderthal. Hide your intelligence…'_ Apparently his reaction displeased both 'Bigfoot' and 'Bastard'. Yahto's quick mind whirled with activity. _'These are aliens, so I don't have to behave like a human necessarily, not that I'm human anymore to begin with. So as long as my behavior is primitive, I can surprise them at how well I fight. I can also use some of my abilities without restraint, I just need to hide what I'm fully capable of…Well come on 'Bigfoot' I'm waiting for you to roar again._

"ROOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!" 'Bigfoot' roared again. _'There we go, now as a native I feel challenged by this stranger, so…'_ Yahto stood his ground not even flinching as the roar's echoes soon faded to silence. Slowly he straightened his head fixing the two monsters in front of him with a fierce gaze, crumpling his facial features as much as he could to express in loathing for them. Standing as tall as he could Yahto leveled his shoulders expanding his chest and diaphragm full of air. _'I can let loose,'_ Yahto thought to himself, _'they aren't human.'_ Yahto felt his strength course through his body as he gave these two monsters his reply.

"RRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!" The amount of volume Yahto emitted was beyond staggering as it putting 'Bigfoot's' roar to shame. The trees swayed and a wind was suddenly blowing away from Yahto. The roar continued to echo and didn't fade quickly giving a lasting impression of the roar's power. Yahto let his strength and spirit burn inside him.

There was a pause as 'Bigfoot' and 'Bastard' seemed dumbstruck. Then completely unexpected to Yahto they started laughing, loudly, without abandonment.

'_You arrogant…' _Yahto in a huff dropped his backpack. In smolder anger he pulled off his shirts to reveal his muscular frame. Taking a leather cord from around his wrist he tied his hair back in a rough wolf tail, _'because pony tails are for girls.'_ With another band he bunched up his beard binding it just below his chin to make sure it didn't get blown up into his face. Reaching down to his belongings he pulled out three wooden spears. Gripping two in his left hand he held them out at arm's length in front of him, perpendicular to the ground and his enemies. Taking one in his right hand he pulled it behind his head, readied in a throwing position. Knees bent, feet apart and muscles coiled, ready to move in an instant.

'Bigfoot' and 'Bastard' halted their laughter briefly before resuming with more gusto.

'_Come on you assholes shoot at me,' _Yahto jeered as he remained in his poised stance. 'Bastard' said something briefly before to 'Bigfoot' before taking hold of the spear launcher Yahto had seen him use earlier. Lazily 'Bastard' lifted the weapon to his hip then leveled it at Yahto. 'Bastard' said one more thing to 'Bigfoot', probably some joke because 'Bigfoot's' laughing increased. Yahto remained composed as he locked eyes with 'Bastard'. The mandibles on 'Bastard's' face seemed to spread into a shit-eating grin, giving Yahto a condescending look.

*PHFT!* The spear gun fired.

Standing his ground Yahto spun in place lightning fast, dodging the spear by a hair. As he whipped around his eyes locked on 'Bastard's' head still having that arrogant smile of superiority. Using the momentum from the spin Yahto stepped forward like a baseball pitcher, right arm posed for the throw. Bringing the arm forward he released his wood spear in his right hand sending it at 'Bastard's' head with just as much force as the spear gun.

*CRUNCH, THUD*

'Bigfoot's' laughing stopped abruptly as he looked back to see his smaller companion on the ground with a wooden spear jutting out from between his eyes. The arrogant smile of superiority frozen on his face in death. 'Bigfoot' turned to look back at the small creature who had just done this.

'_You mad bro?'_ Yahto chuckled inside his mind. Keeping his stoic disposition Yahto slowly moved one of wooden spears in his left hand to his right. Yahto returned to his original stance, one spear in his left, out at arm's length in front of him, perpendicular to the ground and his remaining enemy. The one in his right hand pulled behind his head, ready to be thrown. Knees bent, feet apart and muscles coiled, ready to move.

"RRROOOOAAAAARRRRRR!" Yahto let a small smirk lift the corner of his mouth as 'Bigfoot' charged. Having watched two of 'Bigfoot's' fights thus far Yahto had a basic understanding of the larger alien's fighting style. What was different this time though was 'Bigfoot' wasn't playing around. He wanted Yahto dead. Very dead, Yahto observed that by the amount of effort he was putting in to his attacks.

Yahto stayed on the defensive using his wood spears to push off 'Bigfoot' to keep the distance margin between them. When 'Bigfoot' halted in his attacks to pick up a weapon or to think, Yahto didn't give him the opportunity to withdraw from the fight. It was during these halts that Yahto was able to score major damage to the alien. A large gash across the forehead caused blood to run into its eyes. A stab to the knee damaged the nerves, bone and tendons making movement painful. Small puncture wounds where Yahto guessed major arteries were made the ground glow with fluorescent blood.

Yahto had planned a battle of attrition from the beginning. Exhaust, bleed, damage the opponent until they were unable to continue the fight then deliver the killing blow. Ten minutes into the fight 'Bigfoot' caught on to what Yahto was doing, but it was too late. Fifteen minutes into the fight 'Bigfoot' changed his strategy from punching and kicking to trying to grab or tackle Yahto. This new strategy was aggressive and consumed a lot of energy. The payoff was if he could grab this small native he could end the fight instantly. At twenty-five minutes 'Bigfoot' had taken a defensive posture waiting for his smaller opponent to tire or become lazy, producing an opening for attack. Forty minutes, the fight was over. 'Bigfoot' was on his knees hunched forward almost in a fetal position, his arms brought up shielding his head as Yahto relentlessly battered him.

Yahto was glad he had found wood comparable to oak to make his spears, anything less and they would have broken ages ago. He could see cracks forming in the wood now from the amount of force he was using in the brutal beatdown he was giving 'Bigfoot'. As he danced around continuously keeping a steady stream strikes with the shaft of his spears he noticed 'Bigfoot's' legs still tense, ready to pounce. Coming around the front he could tell 'Bigfoot' was concentrating from the determined look on his face.

*CRACK*

In a wide sweeping horizontal strike to 'Bigfoot's' left shoulder one of Yahto's spears broke. Almost immediately Bigfoot had lunged, arms wide, eyes full of excitement seeing Yahto's surprise and shock. In a stunning show of reflexes Yahto grabbed hold of 'Bigfoot's' left arm pulling it towards him then turned, tucked and threw his opponent over his shoulder.

*THUD*

'Bigfoot' felt dizzy, laying on his back looking up wide-eyed at the dark tree canopy above. He blinked a couple of times to re-orientate himself. 'Bigfoot' could hear the native's breathing heavily a short distance away.

'Bigfoot' rolled over on to his hands and knees. Yahto continued to stand in his fighting stance waiting; tightening and loosening his grip on the wood spear he held. 'Bigfoot' slowly stood up, trying to make it look as intimidating as possible. By this point Yahto had seen enough of their facial expressions to know that 'Bigfoot' was seething with rage. Brow lowered in frustration, mandibles twitching with irritation, teeth bared in aggression and eye burning in anger. Yahto slid his right hand down the wooden shaft of his spear to grip the pommel at the end.

"ROOOAA-CHK!" In a swift step and lunge forward like a fencer Yahto buried the tip of his spear into 'Bigfoot's' throat. Immediately 'Bigfoot' snatched the wood spear from Yahto's grip. Pulling the weapon out of his throat 'Bigfoot' covered the hole with his fingers trying to stop the blood from flooding out. Yahto skipped away out of 'Bigfoot's' reach watching him cautiously.

"*COUGH!*" The florescent green blood spat out of 'Bigfoot's' mouth as his eyes widened in realization. Blood was slowly beginning to fill up his lungs. "*COUGH- COUGH!*" He was going to drown on his own blood. His gaze turned to the native a short distance away watching him intently. Yahto suppressed an evil smile as he watched 'Bigfoot' finally realize his fate after coughing up another glob of green blood.

'Bigfoot' turned quickly looking for something, Yahto ran around the alien to stand in front of him. Yahto knew that 'Bigfoot' probably had some medical supplies that could help him, but Yahto would not allow him to reach them.

It was a slow an agonizing death to watch. 'Bigfoot' would try and lunge at Yahto, but wasn't in any condition to catch him. Any objects Yahto thought 'Bigfoot' was going for he kicked further from the alien's reach. Finally, 'Bigfoot' lay out on the ground face first struggling for the last few gulps of air. Then all movement and sound stopped.

Yahto crouched balancing on his toes waiting and watch 'Bigfoot' intently. Even after all sign of life had left the alien Yahto kept his distance. Glancing to the side he noticed one of the alien's metal lances within arm's reach. Slowly he picked it up positioning it defensively in front of him as he approached the corpse. About four yards away Yahto crouched then jumped high into the air. Leading with the lance as he fell Yahto pushed his full weight down piercing the alien's body in the center of mass. Once the lance reached refusal Yahto hopped away, seeing no reaction from the fallen alien.

There was something swelling inside of Yahto, something primal. Standing tall over his dead adversary, the rush of adrenaline still in his blood, the pride and glory of victory … just made him want to …

"RRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!"

**A/N: Well that's all for now folks hope your wait was worthwhile. Please leave comments and constructive criticisms. Please stay tune for the next chapter… when? Well, sorry but I think you'll have to wait about just as long for chapter 6; sorry. Well, until that time, Peace.**


	6. Friendship is Magic

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with other.**

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Chapter 7: Friendship is {strikethrough}Magic{/strikethrough} Food

Ja'anya winced as the throbbing pain in her head no longer allowed her to remain unconscious. Blinking several times the ground came into focus. She tried to move her hands to massage her aching temple, but she found them restrained. Her last memory soon flashed across her mind like a blaring alarm.

The Bad-bloods had captured her! She was now their prisoner. Their 'prize' she indignantly thought. She let out a displeased growl before looking up.

"*YELP!*" Ja'anya's head snapped back in surprise to see a creature a mere hair tendril's away from her face. She was now very confused as her headache only increased as her mind automatically searched for an answer.

She studied the creature's face in front of her. It had two eyes, a sinus protrusion, mouth and mane of hair surrounding the face. From its color she guessed it was homoeothermic, possibly some sort of mammal. As her gaze shifted she noticed it was bi-pedal with two arms. Its scent was a fairly strong smell of sweat and soil. It seemed just as interested staring at her as she was staring at it. Its close proximity was unnerving. _'What is this animal?,'_ Ja'anya thought, _'Is it a pet of the Bad-bloods?'_

"Back off," Ja'anya growled lunging forward in attempt to bite it. The animal without alarm leaned back just out of range as her mandibles flared in agitation and warning.

"Ja'anya?" leaning back to look around the animal. She smiled when she saw Kra'vyx standing off to one side. He was unbound, seemed to be unharmed with a happy and relieved expression on his face. The creature jumped away from Ja'anya spinning quickly wielding a wood spear, pointing the sharpened tip at Kra'vyx.

"*Growl*" the creature bared its teeth at Kra'vyx. Ja'anya's jaw then dropped dumb founded as Kra'vyx dropped to his knees, raising his hands in surrender.

"Kra'vyx what's going on?"

"*Grunt, Grrr*" the native turned back to Ja'anya, pointed the spear at her throat.

"No, no you don't need to do that," Kra'vyx pleaded, the animal turned back to aim the spear at him.

"Kra'vyx?"

"Shh! Ja'anya is a friend… ffffrrriiiieennnddd," Kra'vyx spoke slowly and gently. "Ja'anya is a friend," Kra'vyx slowly pointed towards Ja'anya. "Fffrriiieenndd, Ja'anya friend, fffrriiieennnddd."

"Phh'eeenndd…" the creature attempted to mimic then tilted its head to the side in confusion and interest.

"Ffrriieenndd," Kra'vyx said again slowly as if speaking to a young pup.

"What are you doing?" Ja'anya hastily whispered, not understanding why Kra'vyx was so 'submissive' to this creature.

"It killed all the Bad-bloods," Kra'vyx quickly respond in a hushed tone. Ja'anya's eyes went wide in amazement. This creature, who was only perhaps 6 nok tall, had killed the hunters of the Cet Mar'cte Clan? It was impossible! It looked so weak, and frail. The only proof of this was that she did not see any of the Bad-bloods and they were still in their camp. She recognized the fire, Hehk'eki's body had been cut down from the tripod it had been hanging from… if this was the case.

"Phriend… hm…" Ja'anya looked at the creature as it eyed her suspiciously.

"Friend," Kra'vyx repeated. "Ja'anya just be passive," he instructed, "everything will be alright. I think he's a native and he's just curious. Once he knows you aren't a threat he might let you go. Don't do anything-"

"*GRUNT!* Phriend, Hm, *growl*, Kkrraxxs *grunt, grunt*" Ja'anya watched as the native appeared to order Kra'vyx to do something. Making motions with its hands and spear to communicate. Kra'vyx apparently understood nodding his head up and down before bowing his head.

"Ja'anya just let him do what he wants. You'll be fine," Kra'vyx whispered as he slowly rose and headed off into the forest. The native watched him go before turning back to Ja'anya, looking directly into her eyes. In her culture this was a sign of a challenge, warriors of a lower status were required to look away from those who were higher. If Ja'anya wasn't in such a position she would have roared out a challenge to this native then engaged it in combat to assert her dominance.

However, right now she was at this native's mercy. Tied to a tree, exposed and vulnerable. She was not in the position power nor in one to demand anything really. For a member of her race to bow in submission to another species was one of the most dishonorable things a Yautja could do. Kra'vyx warning though echoed through her mind.

It had killed the Bad-bloods!?

To do that the native's skill in combat was well above her own. There would be little dishonor to show respect to a superior warrior. Ja'anya hesitated to be the first one to look away, but after coming to her decision she truly looked into its eyes; fully realizing it was right for her to be the one to look away.

Its eyes were commanding, demanding compliance and respect. The gaze of one who could not be threatened or subverted. Yet at the same time it was interested and compassionate. Its gaze like that of an awestruck pup and at the same time that of a wise elder. Full of wonder at discovering something new and strange. While holding a paternal kindness that told her that it did not want to harm her, but demanded her respect. Gradually Ja'anya lowered her head, her eyes slowly drifting down to look at the ground.

She stayed like that listening carefully to the native approach. She felt the tip of the spear gently raise her head up to look back at the native. What followed was almost comical.

Its eyes were full of curiosity as it rapidly tilted its head back and forth looking at her. It walked around her in a semi-circle looking at her from every possible angle. It drew closer keeping the spear under her chin as a constant reminder as to who was in charge. Eventually, it held the spear in one hand while stepping closer. Slowly extending its free hand towards her arm.

It brushed her skin. She didn't dare retaliate. As a reward the spear was removed from her throat and placed on the ground still within its reach. With both hands on her arm it felt the texture, petting it, poking it and like she was some sort of exhibit in a pup's 'petting zoo'. She closed her eyes concentrating not to voice her displeasure at the invasion of her personal space. Slowly the curious hands worked its way up to her face. The small fingers running over her ridge and stroking her forehead. She could not deny that the touch was gentle and slightly comforting.

The last thing it did was 'play' with her mandibles, moving them into different positions. The native seemed to be captivated by how they moved. It spent at least a milli-cycle playing with them. Then its touch left her. Slowly opening her eyes she saw the native with its back to her crouch near the fire.

It picked something up and returned to her. In its hands was what looked like a hot stone, but the scent that reached her indicated that it was some sort of food item. It crouched in front of her, with the food held in his hand in plane site. Slowly he brought it up, taking a bite out of it. Ja'anya watched as jaw worked chewing the food, then swallowed.

Slowly it brought the food towards her, placing it in front of her mouth. Understanding its offering she gradually leaned forward. Slowly taking a bite and swallowed. The taste was sweet as she let out a breath she had been holding ever since she had woken up. The native seem pleased as its eyes brightened and the corners of its mouth stretched upward. It repeated the process, it taking a bite then her taking a bite, until it was gone.

The native went back to the fire pit returning to her with another food item. Before it started this time it freed her hands from the tree. Her hands were still bound together with cord. She rested her hands on her lap, continuing to be compliant with the native. Just as slowly and gently as before it grasper her hands. Putting the food in between their fingers. The process began anew with them holding hands taking turns ferrying what she now thought to be a vegetable to their mouths. When it was gone the native returned to the fire to retrieve another one.

On this third time it placed the cooked vegetable in her hand and sat in front of her, hands at its sides. Guessing as to what it wanted her to do she brought the food to her mouth taking a bite, then slowly reached out offering it to take a bite as well. The process again repeated for a third time with Ja'anya transporting the food between them until it was gone. Once the food was finished the native gave a pleased nod.

Standing up it went about freeing her of her bounds. She stayed seated until the native had backed away a distance before standing up.

"I'm glad you two became friends," Kra'vyx said with a smile as he made a reappearance from the woods. His arms were loaded with a bundle of wood sticks which he then dumped in a very large pile.

"Did it do the feeding thing to you too?" Ja'anya asked rubbing her wrists trying to relieve the soreness from the tight bindings.

"He did," Kra'vyx gave a nod.

"How do you know it's a male?"

"Kind of guessed it from his behavior, but I could be wrong," Kra'vyx shrugged.

"What's with the sticks," Ja'anya motioned to the pile gathered wood.

"Don't know," Kra'vyx admitted. "After doing the food-friendship-ritual he kind of instructed me to gather wood. And in return…"

Ja'anya turned to see that the native come forward offering Kra'vyx one of the cooked vegetables. Kra'vyx gave a bow as he received the offered food, the native mimicked the bow in turn before returning to the fire.

"And in return you get food?" Ja'anya finished.

"Yeah, want some?" Kra'vyx offered breaking it in half offering her a piece. Ja'anya took it and began to eat while she looked around the camp. Off to one side she saw the bodies of K'on and Hehk'eki lying next to each other. Looking at how they were placed they seemed to be in some sort of 'burial' position. The fingers in their hands laced together, resting on their stomach with small stones covered their eyes. The bad-bloods were in a similar pose and were lying separate from her hunt mates.

"Did he position the bodies like that?" Ja'anya asked.

"Yes," Kra'vyx answered. "I don't know what he intends to do with them, but he does seem to have some respect for the dead."

"*GRUNT!* Hm, Kkrraxxs, *grunt, grunt*" both of them turned to see the native making motions with his hands.

"He wants me to get more wood," Kra'vyx translated, as turned to return to the woods.

"*grunt*, humpf, Phriend, *grunt, grunt*" the native made a few more hand motions.

"…And I think he wants you to help me," Kra'vyx guessed, Ja'anya moved slowly to follow Kra'vyx watching the native. The native nodded its head up and down before returning to whatever it was doing. The two hunt mates walked into the darkness beyond the campfire. When Ja'anya thought they were out of the native's range of hearing she began interrogating Kra'vyx.

What happened? Why did the native kill the Bad-bloods? How did it kill the Bad-bloods? …

To the best of his abilities Kra'vyx answered her questions. There were some a few moments he missed when he was in a battle rage, head butting a Bad-blood to death. He explained that the Demon Bad-blood and one of his apprentices were the last ones standing. Just when he thought he would be spending the rest of his short life being tortured the native just wandered into their camp.

The Bad-bloods tried to scare it off, but Kra'vyx guessed that the native took it as a challenge. The Bad-bloods thought it was a joke for this creature to pose any kind of a threat. Then almost immediately the apprentice got a wood spear between the eyes. The Demon Bad-blood became enraged and went full throttle trying to slay the native.

Kra'vyx explained the fight in detail as he and Ja'anya gathered sticks. She couldn't believe the story, but every indication proved that it was true. She saw the Demon Bad-blood lying dead on the ground, alongside his three apprentices.

"What else do you know about this native?" Ja'anya asked as they headed back to camp arms loaded with sticks.

"Nothing much," Kra'vyx replied. "He's definitely curious and intelligent. He figured out how to free me from the net I was trapped in without cutting it. He spent the longest time 'inspecting' me. Kind of how like he did to you and that …"

As they walked back into camp they went silent as they saw the native hunched over a pile of their weapons. Picking up seeming harmless oval disc the native flipped and turned it in his hands. Holding it in his palm he ran his fingers over it feeling its smooth metallic surfa-

*SHING!* The shuriken the native held in its hand deployed. Six wickedly sharp blades extending from its hub.

"AH!" Startled by the sudden folding blades extending. The native tossed the device into the air, reeling away. In a quick display of reflexes and coordination the native brought up his wood spear. Then with a downward swing he struck the shuriken in mid-air, batting it to the ground.

"AH!" *clang!* "AH!" *clang!* "AH!" *clang!*

Kra'vyx and Ja'anya both raised a quizzical eyebrow as the native battered the offending weapon on the ground.

"AH!" *clang!* "AH!" *SHING!* "Hm?!" The native looked down at the weapon that had startled him with a tilted head. The shuriken's blades were now retracted. With the tip of his spear he began to cautiously poke at it.

*SHING!* He flinched away, before leaning in pressing the same spot with his spear tip. *SHING!* the blades retracted. *SHING!* the blades extended. *SHING!* the blades retracted. The native picked up the device, then pressed the activation button with his finger. *SHING!* the blades extended. *SHING!* the blades retracted.

"*(childlike) Giggle!*" A wide smile appeared on the native's face. *SHING!* *SHING!* *SHING!* *SHING!* *SHING!* *SHING!* *SHING!* *SHING!* *SHIN *SHIN *SHIN *SHIN *SHI *SHI *SHI *SHI *SH *SH *SH *SH *SH *SH *SH *S *S *S *S *S * * * * * * *

"…"

"He is also easily amused," Kra'vyx said with a chuckle, "he did the same thing to a combi-stick earlier and I think he wore out the telescoping mechanism on it."

The native stopped when he heard Kra'vyx speak turning to them with an awed look on his face. Holding out the shuriken the native demonstrated what he had discovered, extending and retracting the weapons blades by pressing the button.

"Good, good," Kra'vyx congratulated with a cheerful tone. He and Ja'anya deposited the pile of sticks to existing pile. The native seeing this got up from his spot to reward them both with another cooked vegetable. They exchanged bows during the transaction.

"*GRUNT!* Hm, Kkrraxxs, hm, Phriend, *grunt, grunt*," both of whom understood giving a nod before heading back into the forest to gather more wood sticks.

"It's almost like dealing with a youngling," Ja'anya commented when they were once again out of ear shot.

"A youngling that can kick both our butts," Kra'vyx replied with a chuckle.

"Any idea what its motives are? Will he continue to treat us like…" Ja'anya cringed as the word as she thought of it. "…slaves?"

"Not slaves," Kra'vyx shook his head. "More like… indebted friends." He heard Ja'anya give a disgruntle groan. "Hey, isn't it better than being under the threat of death from the Bad-bloods. From the best I can understand that feeding routine, food sharing thing he did. Makes me think he wants to be friends. Everyone's your friend if you bring a full rib roast to a festival. So as long as we are friendly, he will be friendly."

"I guess I can live with that," she still tried to rationalize being 'friends' with an inferior species. The primary reason she continued to justify was that the native was able to defeat the Bad-blood. The native was an honorable and skilled warrior that had 'earned' her respect by saving her.

* * *

"_Well, I think they bought it," _Yahto thought with a sigh of relief as he watched the two aliens walk back into the forest. His strategy to appear as an uncivilized primitive being was working as far he could tell. The male which he now knew as 'Kra'vyx' continued to speak to him slowly and gently in whatever language they were speaking. He could pronounce Kra'vyx's name perfectly if he wanted to, but continued to act like it was giving him difficulties.

"_He's treating me like a child,"_ he grumbled, recognizing the tone of voice Kra'vyx used. Perhaps that was just one of those universal things to talk to 'naïve persons' like a child. Despite the unintended insult to his intelligence and age, he ignored it to keep up the charade. He knew both of the aliens understood who was in charge.

He still could detect a hint of caution in Kra'vyx's voice that showed that he feared what Yahto might do if they did something wrong. Red Stone, the female, seemed to come to this same conclusion after seeing Bigfoot and his buddies dead. Their word '{friend}' didn't seem to be her name. As Kra'vyx had used the word to refer to himself while he was still trapped in the net. He didn't fully understand her body language either, but the female still seemed to have trouble swallowing her pride.

"_Figure out their language later," _Yahto told himself, _"time to get some work done._"

While the aliens continued to gather firewood he would exchange their hard work with food. Eventually he should have enough wood to start assembling the funeral pyres. Noticing the dwindling supply of native 'sweet potatoes' he went over to a tree nearby.

Crouching beside a clump of tall grass he pushed aside to reveal a hidden animal burrow. Taking out the device he had discovered earlier with six retractable blades he deployed the weapon. Cutting his finger, he let a few crimson drops of blood dripped in front of the burrow entrance. Moving to one side, out of view of the burrow entrance he waited. He didn't have to wait long for a spade shaped head appeared flaring its nostrils.

With a swift swing of the alien weapon Yahto decapitated the animal. Taking hold of its body he started to drag the dead animal out of its burrow. If he was drawing a comparison to Earth fauna he would say it was the cross between a boa constrictor and a centipede. It had the reptilian like features of a snake with hundreds of little legs. And for some reason… it tasted like chicken.

"_Why does an alien centi-pede-snake taste like chicken?" _Yahto shook his head as he questioned the chaotic logic of the universe. He cleaned the animal then placed it over the fire to cook. He was giving the cooking animal a rotation when he noticed the two aliens come back with another load of fire wood.

He was gradually learning the different facial expressions of his new acquaintances. The look of hunger, appreciation and pleading displayed clearly on their faces when they saw the barbeque.

"_Everyone is friends with the guy who brings pizza to game night."_

* * *

**A/N: Reader thank you again for joining me. A special thank you to Khalthar for beta-reading and reviewing for this chapter and most of my previous chapters; and another thanks to readers who left comments for chapter 5.**

**Jrmf: Yes, I … had a hard time writing that myself. I basically put something in there that would gross me out, and basically put my reaction as Yahto.**

**BlueDragon576: Thank you glad you are enjoying the story so far and hope you've enjoyed this installment.**

**AAEdmonds: I hope Ja'anya and Yahto's meeting satisfied your expectations.**

**Guest: I hope I keep that brilliance for this and future chapters.**

**The Book of Eli: Thank you for the suggestion to map out my story, its… not exactly organized right now. I've kind of got a folder of small 'plot points' that I've 'vomited' out. Currently unorganized, but ideas are being put to paper and saved so I don't forget them. Eventually I need to figure out a timeline.**

**Ro: Thank you for the compliments, I do hope to keep that level of awesome-ness. Khalthar has been a great resource in my story telling and reviewing. I doubt that the story would have the current level of awesome-ness without him.**

**WraithoftheNight: Glad to have your attention, however I update on a regularly irregular biases. I haven't figured out how to keep my muse turned on. If I knew the 'trigger' that allowed me to just keep writing I'm sure I would come out with chapters quicker. However, I have yet to discover that 'trigger'. Plus, sometimes the muse just won't shut up and I'll be writing for a week straight. But it will all be for a chapter way way way in the future. So please be patient with me.**

**Wolf's Bar: I was about to post this and sudden one more comment appears! Thank you for mentioning the additional resource. I've got a couple of 'Yautja' websites bookmarked, but this seems to cover the whole AvP universe. I'll be sure to explore it and see what little gold nuggets I can find. And I do hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**That's all for now folks hope your wait was worthwhile. Please leave comments and constructive criticisms. Until next time, Peace.**

**PS. How do you do strikethrough on FanFic? For some reason it doesn't do it. *searches internet* Nope I guess you can't, *strug* well that messed up the title of this chapter a little bit.**

**PPS. I wonder how many 'My Little Pony' fans read this by accident.**


	7. Joining Paths

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with others.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Joining Paths

It had been a long day and night. Yahto's two new acquaintances had lain down near the campfire. Both were asleep as soon as their heads rested on the ground. He had gone a short distance away to settle down at the base of a tree. Yahto gave a silent chuckle as he looked over at the sleeping forms of Kra'vyx and Ja'anya.

They had done the 'Tarzan chest-thump name' routine as they ate the cooked centi-pede-snake. He had learned that the female's name was Ja'anya. Of course he pronounced it as 'Jana', to maintain the appearance of a low intelligence native.

Afterwards, he had them help assemble the funeral pyres for the dead. They seemed hesitant at first, but did not protest the process. He sang an old solemn hymn in Latin as he brought the torch to each of the pyres. The singing seemed to calm their nerves as his baritone voice echoed off the trees into the night. Ja'anya and Kra'vyx did insist that they light their companion's pyres themselves, which he allowed.

They all stood watching the flames for a long while before he communicated to them through a game of charades that it was time to sleep. They were both surprised when he gave them both some of their weapons back. They bowed low to him in gratitude before lying on the ground to rest.

As Yahto wiggled a little bit to get comfortable he wondered what to do now. He had finally met the aliens he had been tracking for several days. He had involved himself in whatever battle they were locked in. No doubt Bigfoot's friends would not be pleased. He feared Bigfoot's friends would probably try to take their revenge or reclaim honor or whatever values these aliens held. Basically, Bigfoot's friends would want him dead for killing their necrophilia friend.

"Of course they can try, but their attempts wouldn't achieve anything." Letting out a long sigh he looked up at the sky.

Despite the dense canopy above he could see bits of the night sky through the leaves and branches. A star here and there, but not enough to recognize the constellations that had been guiding him. He didn't know what direction to go.

His eyes soon returned to the two sleeping figures by the campfire.

"An adventure is best shared with company," he sagely whispered, making up his mind to follow his new friends. To where ever that may lead.

* * *

Kra'vyx was awoken by the final stage of the biological process of eating and drinking. He groaned lightly not wanting to leave sleep's warm embrace. In fact something warm was embracing him. The something or someone nestled against his back with a warm arm was draped over his chest.

"Syl'vyx," Kra'vyx mumbled his brother's name in sleepy confusion. "Syl'vyx I need to get up." The arm and body holding him there remained still. "Syl'vyx let go, I need to piss."

Despite being adults Kra'vyx and Syl'vyx still shared a sleeping nest. Usually the practice of two males sleeping together would be considered repulsive and taboo. Labeling them as 'defective' or nagara-l'dte. However, Yautja twins shared a bond that was unique. Saving them from the denunciation for the habit.

As Kra'vyx took a few whiffs of the morning air he noticed it wasn't Syl'vyx next to him. In fact the scent was female. Slowly turning his head he saw Ja'anya lying against him. At that moment four different emotions raced through Kra'vyx. The pain and sorrow of remembering that his brother was dead, the pride of sleeping next to a beautiful female and finally, panic.

'_Pauk'_, Kra'vyx had learned that disturbing a sleeping female was like stepping on a kiandi amedha's tail. As a pup one of his older sisters who had moved away from home stayed for a night. Thinking it would be funny to pull a prank on their older sibling, Kra'vyx and his brother had decided to 'rouse' her from her sleep in a 'mild' manner. It did not end well for them. As he grew older the lessons of respecting, fearing and obeying the dominate gender were learned very well.

Slowly and carefully Kra'vyx freed himself from Ja'anya unconscious hold. Quietly tip-toeing away to the blushes to do his business. As he squatted his thoughts returned to his fallen brother, Syl'vyx. He hadn't thought about him since the night before when Ja'anya reversed the feelings of sadness into feelings of anger and vengeance.

His remembered last night when they snuck into camp how they had found Hehk'eki's body. Strung up like a dressed animal while the Bad-bloods danced about in celebration. Is that what had happened to his brother? That he was somewhere in these woods still strung up as insects picked those last pieces of flesh from his bones?

The loss and sadness hit him hard. The depression that Ja'anya had been able to lift him out of returning.

He had been squatting for a long while, when he heard a soft clicking noise coming from the camp. Forcing down the depressing thoughts he focused on the clicking noise. Tracking down the irregular sound he found the source.

The native, who he now knew as 'Yahto', was stacking stones over the charcoal remains of the funeral pyres from the night before. Six elongated stone berms had been erected. He must have been at it for a while too because he was just finishing the last one. A wood post stood at the head of each grave with a personal item of the fallen displayed.

Walking to stand between the graves of K'on and Hehk'eki. Lowing his head in reverence he offered a prayer Cetanu that the souls of their friends would be welcomed into the eternal hunting grounds of their ancestors. Adding another prayer for his brother to the many others that he recited to Cetanu. Opening his eyes Kra'vyx saw Yahto was watching him with interest.

They stared at each other for a long while, before Yahto walked forward to stand in front of Kra'vyx. Taking a water skin from his shoulder Yahto started chanting in his native language. Tipping the water skin he spilled its contents over the graves of K'on and Hehk'eki before taking a small swig of water himself. Yahto then offered it to Kra'vyx. Solemnly, Kra'vyx took the water skin offered him. Taking a few gulps of cool water before handing it back.

"Thank you," Kra'vyx whispered in appreciation. Seeming to understand the sentiment of the words Yahto gave an understanding nod before walking off.

"He doesn't seem as uncivilized as I initially thought," Kra'vyx turned to Ja'anya approaching him. "I didn't study primitive species and cultures too much, but I can tell that whatever culture Yahto comes from respects the dead."

"Considering the situation we're in I would consider Hehk'eki and K'on's burial properly preformed," Kra'vyx commented. "I honestly think there isn't anything else we can do."

"I agree," Ja'anya nodded. "The only thing left to do is escape this planet and I think I've found a way off." Lift her forearm Kra'vyx saw that she was wearing the Demon Bad-blood's gauntlet computer. Pressing a few keys the holographic display ignited displaying a topographic map of the immediate area. "If I'm reading this right the Cet Mar'cte left their ship a half day's walk from our current position."

"So you're think now that they're dead they wouldn't mind us borrowing it so we can go home."

"Exactly, personally I've had enough of this planet," Ja'anya finished with a disgruntle sigh. She was about to deactivate the holographic display when a very curious Yahto popped up between them. Wide eyed as Yahto watched at the floating image of light in front of him in awe.

Ja'anya and Kra'vyx both had to stifle their laughter as they watched their primitive friend act like a cub. Waving his hands through the projected light dumbfounded each time as he could not touch or feel the image. He even went as far as pulling Ja'anya's forearm closer so he could try licking the hologram. Yahto finally seemed to lose interest, returning to the campfire to finish preparing the morning meal.

They sat in silence as they ate reheated leftovers from the night before. Once they were finished they began gathering their gear. Yahto kept two of the skuriken smart disks he had found, leaving a considerable pile of Bad Blood weapons for Ja'anya and Kra'vyx to arm themselves with. This was not honorable by the hunter's code. Kra'vyx and Ja'anya did not kill the owner of these weapons so 'technically' these belonged to Yahto. However, the native communicated to them that they could have their pick of weapons.

Feeling they were properly equipped to continue their journey Kra'vyx and Ja'anya began to hike in the direction of the Bad-blood ship. They couldn't help, but notice that Yahto was following them, keeping pace with their long strides.

"Why is he following us?" Ja'anya whispered.

"I don't know," Kra'vyx answered stealing a glance behind him to see Yahto return a smile. "Maybe he is curious?"

"Pick up the pace, maybe we can lose him." she suggested.

"Why? I see no harm in him following us."

"He belongs to a lower tier of civilization. Our laws forbid us from interacting with such lower beings."

"However, they also state that any being who displays themselves to be a great warrior is to be treated as one. Besides it isn't as if we could dissuade him from following us. If he follows us I believe he has earned a place among our people."

Ja'anya grumbled at this. If Yahto did follow them and did come back home with them he would undoubtedly be taken in by her family because of their higher status. Which meant she would most likely have to oversee his apprenticeship to become a member of their society. A responsibility that could explode in her face if he did not adapt to their ways. It would be seen as a dishonor for her to fail as this beings' teacher.

The trio continued to trudge on in relative silence. Around mid-morning Yahto got curious again and started playing a word game with Kra'vyx. It started when Yahto went up to an object, patting it with his hand then saying a single word over and over. Ja'anya figured out the word the native was saying was the name of the object. After that Kra'vyx took over telling Yahto the Yautja word for different things.

Eventually the forest ended and they broke out of the tree line to the grassy planes.

"Ciel, ciel," Yahto pointed straight up. Kra'vyx looked up to see only the open air confused. "Ciel," Yahto repeated again point straight up at nothing.

"Uhm," Kra'vyx wasn't sure.

"I think he's point at the 'sky'," Ja'anya offered.

"Ah, that is the sky, sssskkkkkyyyy, sky," Kra'vyx told Yahto.

"ssSS-kkk-hhiiiee," Yahto tried to pronounce.

"Ssskkkyyy."

"Sssckiiii."

"Sky."

"Sck-hi."

"Close enough," Kra'vyx gave a shrug. "How close are we to the ship?" Ja'anya brought up the wrist computer pushing a few buttons.

"Not far, maybe less than a micro-cycle at the pace we're going." The group went silent again as they continued hiking.

* * *

Yahto continued to watch Kra'vyx and Ja'anya. Closely listening to every word they spoke. He was starting to pick up some of the grammar and sentence structure. However their conversations still meant nothing to him due to his lack of vocabulary. Through their little game of 'name that thing' he had a sense of what words were nouns. Verbs were still elusive in translating the alien tongue.

"_What I wouldn't give for a universal translator,"_ he thought to himself. The universal translator was something loaded onto every computer system when he had left earth. It allowed seamless communication from one language to another. Granted before there were computers he had to learn how to speak languages the old fashion way. In the thirteenth century when books became more common it helped speed up the process. Right now though, he was back to the bare basics. Learning through listening.

"_I don't even want to start understanding their written language," _Yahto added to his mental conversation. Ja'anya and Kra'vyx had stopped in front of him. Both huddled around the arm mounted computer that Ja'anya wore. Humans had developed three dimensional holographic displays long before he took his journey to the stars. So again fulfilling the role of a wonder struck primitive he wondered up wide eyed to the glowing red image in front of them.

Displayed in red glowing light was what he guessed was their written language. A series of short lines arranged in different formations. The half dozen times he had seen the symbols he hadn't figured out if it was an alphabet, semanto-phonetic or syllabary system. He could guess how the symbols were developed.

Yahto imagined an ancient alien scribe hold a wet clay tablet, taking the tip of their claw to mark the surface with whatever knowledge they wished to record for posterity. Whatever the original method of writing their words down, he could see how the characters were formed. Similar to how he had once studied Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. The different brush strokes and the order in which they were performed to write a character.

If this were true their written language must be old; possibly older than himself. If it were on human terms it would be as if Egyptian and Sumerian hieroglyphics had survived and were currently used in the modern age. It was definitely an interesting topic to investigate.

Ja'anya and Kra'vyx seemed to be having trouble with whatever they were trying to do on the arm mounted computer. Letting out a frustrated growl every time the device 'beeped' out a 'denied'. At least that is what it sounded like.

Continuing his act of the 'clueless native' he gave shrug and continued walking in the direction they had been heading.

"_I guess their operating on Windows XP, or the alien equivalent," _Yahto chuckled to himself. _"At least XP was better than that piece of shit Weyland-Yutani operation system that came out before I left. Seriously, everything had to be approved by the system administrator. AND I was the system administrator. Fucking, thing didn't run on private computers worth shit."_

"_The way everything was owned by them made them think every computer system was theirs. One giant dominating leviathan. I hope they kicked the bucket while I've been gone, because seriously that company had some corruption problems. Pfft, 'building a better world' my ass, more like enslaving. If I had waited a decade they would have proba-"_

*CLANG!*

"…"

"Ow."

* * *

The sound of something striking metal made Ja'anya and Kra'vyx jump. They turned just in time to see Yahto disappear into the tall grass as he fell.

"…"

"*Ow.*"

"I think our friend found the ship," Kra'vyx said with a grin. Ja'anya gave a frustrated sigh.

"We already knew it was there, the only problem is trying to access its systems. This damn thing just won't take commands," Ja'anya pressed a series of buttons only to receive an agitating beeping noise. The words 'command not recognized' flashed briefly before returning to the command prompt.

"Try doing a system ping or map," Kra'vyx suggested. She exhaled to reign in her frustration before doing what he had suggested. Typing in the command she submitted it only to receive the same 'command not recognized.

She looked up to see Yahto had risen after hitting his head on the cloaked vessel. Rubbing the bump on his head the native seemed perplexed that he had run into something he could not see. Hesitantly he reached out his hand in front of him. His hand crept slowly through the open air before suddenly meeting invisible resistance.

"YELP!"

Yahto hopped backward not comprehending touching something he could not see. Cautiously he again approached the invisible object, reaching out his hand. Again his fingers touched something slightly warm. He flinched away, before moving his hand back to touch the surface.

Finally the native placed both palms against the invisible vessel and started to feel out the object. Spreading his arms wide and walking parallel to the surface feeling his way around. Both the young unblooded hunters watched in amusement as the primitive seemed to be questioning reality as it touched something that could not be seen.

* * *

"_Dear lord I'm doing the invisible wall mime routine."_

* * *

"Aren't you happy you let him follow us?" Kra'vyx asked.

"His reaction is quite, humorous," Ja'anya admitted in a dignified tone. They both watched as the native started shaking his head as if he couldn't believe it.

"Did you activate the link in the gauntlet?"

"Of course I enabled the li…" Ja'anya hotly answered before stopping at the realization. Going into the system configuration she perused the setting. A flash of embarrassment went through her when she saw that the link was in fact 'off'. Swallowing her pride she turned it on.

Immediately the gauntlet established a connection with the ship's systems. Going back to the command window she told the ship to deactivate invisibility and open the hatch.

"AAHHH!" A shimmer of blue electricity ripped across the hull of the vessel. Yahto panicked, drawing his spear and rushing to stand beside Ja'anya and Kra'vyx. Frightened at the appearance of the large metal beast in front of him. Yahto kept glancing at his new friends for an explanation and also tried to understand why they weren't scared.

"Yahto," Ja'anya spoke in a confident tone drawing his attention. Pointing at the now visible ship she pointed at it, "friend."

"Ph-ph-ph-phriend?" Yahto stuttered out in terror. She pointed again at the vessel again.

"Friend," she repeated. Yahto didn't looked as scared now, but certainly looked extremely confused and dazed. Unexpectedly, he began to wobble as if he lost his balance. Reaching out he held on to Ja'anya to steady himself as he started to take rapid breaths. He hunched over looking at the ground, obviously in distress.

"I think we just blew his mind," Kra'vyx joked. There was the hissing sound of air escaping as the ramp to the ship opened. Yahto didn't seem to notice the noise as he still tried to get control of his breathing and balance.

"I'll take care of him. Why don't you get the ship ready for launch," Ja'anya instructed.

"So… are we taking him with us?" Kra'vyx asked surprised.

"I'll give him the choice to follow us on board. If he does come we can at least use him as emergency food."

"That's cruel Ja'anya," he chuckled walking up the ramp into the vessel.

Yahto seemed to recover from his initial panic attack. His breathing had normalized and he was standing without relying on Ja'anya. Once she was sure he was alright Ja'anya went into the ship as well leaving him standing there alone at the ramp.

From inside the shadows of the ship Ja'anya watched the native look up at the ramp leading inside. She could see the cogs in his mind turning. Trying to fully grasp the choice in front of him. Seeming to make up his mind a look of determination settled on his face as he marched up the gangway. Just as he crossed the threshold the ramp began raise and the engines ignited.

"I hope you don't regret your decision Yahto," Ja'anya said as he door began to close.

* * *

**A/N: ****I've got some Yautja words in this chapter so definitions right here. And yes I tried to conjugate a few words so there are a couple 'non-canon' words created.**

**-Definitions:**

**Nagara-L'dte – male homosexual; I made up this word by combine the Yautja word for 'sword' and an abbreviation of their derogatory word for 'female'. A 'literal' translation might be 'sword female' with a very negative connotation. From what I can tell in the Yautja culture this would be a very bad thing. Yautja society would be disgusted by homosexuality, seeing it as unnatural, defective and degenerate. They wouldn't see it as 'morally wrong', just 'biologically unnatural'.**

**Pauk – F**k**

**kiandi amedha – hard meat, xenomorph**

**Cetanu – God of Death, the Dark Hunter, Black Warrior**

**Cet Mar'cte Clan – Black Killer Clan. The Bad-Blood Clan that hunted Ja'anya, Kra'vyx and their friends.**

* * *

**Reader, thank you again for joining me. A special thank you to Khalthar for beta-reading and reviewing this chapter. And another thanks to readers who left comments for chapter 5.**

**Khalthar: I've had no pony-people come out and tell me of their enjoyment of a television show meant for little girls and the Predator franchise. I will confess though I had to do a little 'research' into the subject when I learned that John de Lancie (the actor who is Q from Star Trek) did the voice acting for one of the characters.**

**Wolf's Bar: I'll keep your offer in mind. And I know for a fact I am terrible with coming up with names for character I wish to introduce in the future. Porter-Fuzz1218 in the very beginning offered the names Bakuub and Kantra. I've decided to use them as names for Ja'anya's father and mother. So who knows, if you suggest a name you might have character using that name.**

**KittyKatt25: Here was the next chapter and I hope you enjoyed. And the *shing, shing* yeah totally would have done that myself too. The combi stick is cool, but the shuriken… SOooo much cooler. In my opinion at least.**

**DarkstarPrime: Thank you for sharing your anticipation for this chapter and I do hope I did not disappoint.**

**The Book of Eli: Glad my storytelling worked in terms of the 'outside perspective'. That was one thing I was very nervous about while I was writing it. I've read a few fanfic where your reading along and the suddenly it just jumps somewhere or to someone. I'm like 'Woah, where did this come from? Where are we now?' So I'm glad you were able to follow along and that there was very little confusion in reading it.**

**AAEdmonds: Your praise, along with everyone else's, has encouraged me to continue writing. I'm glad my characters appear real and the setting immersive. While not as 'intense' as the previous chapter I do hope there were some parts you enjoyed. Just… make sure you clean up your frothy mess before the next chapter.**

**InvisibleJediMaster: I'm glad you find my story entertaining. The reason why they don't recognize the 'native's' species will eventually explained. As for the future... well you'll just have the wait for now. Thanks for your comment and I hope you continue.**


	8. Capture

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with others.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Capture

"_I didn't know he would be regretting coming with us so soon,"_ Ja'anya thought as she scrambled about the ship in a panic. The Bad-blood vessel they had commandeered had just closed the ramp they entered through. Automatically the vessels systems proceeded to pressurize the cabin. The sudden change in environment caused Yahto to panic.

First, was the temperature. Yautja enjoy the heat. So most like to keep their space vessels quite warm. When the vessel's heating systems activated Yahto instantly started sweating. From Yahto's perspective it was like suddenly stepping into an oven.

"Does this ship even have a medical bay?" Kra'vyx's voice echoing off the metal bullheads.

"Head forward, I'll head aft. We'll find it, the ship isn't that big," Ja'anya called back as she headed toward the rear of the vessel.

Second, was the atmosphere. Yautja breathed one percent more oxygen and four percent more nitrogen than what was currently found on the planet Ja'anya and Kra'vyx were trying to escape. Ja'anya had tried to tell Yahto to take slow breaths, but her instructions went ignored as he panicked. Which resulted in him hyperventilating.

"Jaa'aanyyyaaaa, we've got another problem," Kra'vyx yelled out.

"WHAT!?" she crossly answered as she searched through a storage locker.

"The ship is taking off on its own!"

"What do you mean its 'taking off on its own'?"

"The ship is literally in the air right now and gaining altitude. Did you turn on the auto-pilot or something?"

"No," Ja'anya walked into the engineering room to the loud humming of the ship's plasma engines. "You figure out what the ship is doing and I'll find Yahto a breather."

"Got it!"

Third, was the humidity. While the temperature was quite high the added humidity acted like a multiplier causing streams of sweat to pour down the native's body. Ja'anya didn't know what specifically caused Yahto to react so negatively to her species' natural climate, but a simple breather should solve the problem.

Looking around the engineering room she saw a wall cabinet labeled 'EMERGENCY'. Running over and opening the doors wide she looked through its contents. First aid kit for plasma burns, healing serum injectors, fire extinguisher… Breather! Grabbing the device she ran back through the corridors.

Yahto lay on his back in distress. His eyes were squeezed shut, his chest rapidly rose and fell. He didn't seem to react as Ja'anya kneeled beside him. Activating the breather she connected it to her computer gauntlet. With a few key strokes she was able to program it to simulate the same atmosphere of the planet they were leaving.

When she tried to put the mouthpiece into Yahto's mouth he fought her attempt to help. She was surprised at how strong this smaller creature was as he was able to hold her back. She was about to grab his mane and ram the breather into his mouth when Kra'vyx came running back.

"Ja'anya we've got a big problem! The ship is on remote control, we're locked out of the controls and we are heading for a Bad-blood Frigate!"

"What!" Ja'anya was now panicking. She thought they had just escaped from the grasp of the Cet Mar'cte Clan. She thought the nightmare was over. She thought she could finally go home.

"I tried smashing the communication system, but there must be a backup somewhere! We'll be in their docking bay in a few minutes."

Ja'anya's mind raced trying to find a way out of this situation. No matter which way she looked at it, she realized she was in a cage. All she could do was fruitlessly rage and pound against the bars. When this realization hit her an overwhelming sense of calm washed over her.

She wasn't necessarily giving up. It was like before they had attacked the Bad-blood camp. She will do her best to survive, but accepted the fact that she probably wouldn't be coming out of this alive.

"_A least I left that last will and testament back on the planet for my bearer to find," _she thought solemnly.

"Ja'anya?" Kra'vyx stood over her looking for instructions.

"Prepare for boarders," Ja'anya instructed before turning back to Yahto. He was still hyperventilating, she guessed he would pass out soon if something wasn't done.

"Yahto," she spoke gently. "Yahto, Ja'anya friend, friend Ja'anya."

"Ja- *breath* na- *breath* Phr- *breath* -end," the native mustered out.

"Ja'anya friend," with those final words she shoved the breather into Yahto's mouth. He tried to fight back thinking that she was trying to suffocate him. However, after biting down on the mouth piece and having to breathe through the device he realized it was much easier.

Ja'anya felt Yahto relax and breathing begin to slow. Carefully grabbing hold of him, Ja'anya moved Yahto out of the way of the main entrance to the ship.

"Are there anymore entrances into this ship?"

"A few hatches and a maintenance ramp in the engineering room. The largest opening is this one," Kra'vyx responded waving to the entrance they come through not ten minutes ago. "Is this were we are going to make our stand?"

"Yes," Ja'anya answered with determination and confidence. Kra'vyx gave a long sigh as he prepared himself.

The hull of the ship disrupted their mask's x-ray vision so they could not clearly see what was going on outside of the ship. They felt and heard the craft landing. Both waited, weapons deployed, muscles tensed ready to spring.

*KH-SSSssss*

Ja'anya and Kra'vyx's eyes immediately went to the crack of the opening gangway. Their eyes tracking the crack for any sign of the enemy. Then off to one corner they saw round metal cylinder thrust through. It clanged and rolled on the metal deck as it caught both Ja'anya and Kra'vyx's attention.

"STUN GRENADE!" Ja'anya's shout of warning came too late as both unblooded hunters desperately dove for cover.

*BANG!*

Ja'anya's vision and balance immediately disappeared as she fell to the floor. Her sensitive hearing was ringing from the explosion. She tried to right herself, but her coordination was encumbered as she flailed on the floor trying to get up.

Through the ringing in herhead she heard someone barking orders and the pounding of footsteps. Before she knew it she felt multiple hands grab a hold of her. Her arms were wrenched behind her back as she felt cold metal placed around her wrists. The hands the gripped her by the arms, lifting her up and dragging her somewhere.

Her senses had slightly returned when she was pushed to her knees with two pairs of hands on her shoulders and back holding her there. She could make out the blurry figure of Kra'vyx kneeling next to her with two bad-bloods also restraining him. She shook her head trying to disperse the remaining effects of the stun grenade.

"… let's just slit their throats and be done with it. Then claim their skulls."

"That is not very sporting. They didn't have a chance from the beginning."

"They're weak Pauks, they don't deserve to live anyways."

"Just do it already I'm getting tired of your bitching."

"HOLD YOUR BLADE!" a voice commanded. Ja'anya tilted her head up to see a female warrior walking up the ramp into the ship. As the female approached she felt the bad-bloods holding her and Kra'vyx kneel in respect. "I want to see the ones who killed my brothers."

Ja'anya couldn't help, but feel a shiver of fear run down her spine. The female before her was massive, dwarfing all the male bad-bloods that stood around her. After hearing that she was the sister to the bad-bloods she had faced on the planet Ja'anya could see some similarities.

Her armor was relatively minimal in comparison to her brothers. While the environment mesh suit that covered her entire body was accented with talons and fangs of her conquered prey. On top of her shoulder pauldrons two plasma casters were mounted. Besides the shoulder pauldrons, the female's only other articles of clothing were a short chain linked skirt, wrist blade gauntlets and thigh high armored boots.

The most mesmerizing characteristic about her appearance was that she did not wear any armor covering her chest and torso. Instead she had a pair of kainde amedha hands fashioned into a makeshift bra to hold her massive endowment.

"You two don't seem like much," the female spoke. Ja'anya wanted to scoot away as the female crouched in front of her. Ja'anya briefly made eye contact before looking away. She expected to see rage or anger in the female bad-blood's eyes, but instead she saw indifference. Gripping Ja'anya tightly by the neck she turned Ja'anya's head silently, inspecting her. "Did a pup like you really kill them?"

"Matriarch Seva'Vesh, there is another creature on this ship!" Ja'anya and Kra'vyx both felt a wave of dread when they heard that name. _"Seva'Vesh? Seva'Vesh the Depraved,"_ they both thought in a panic. The matriarch narrowed her eyes into a glare directed at Ja'anya before releasing her to address the interruption.

"What kind of creature?" Seva'Vesh asked as she stood to look at the bad-blood who was speaking.

"I don't know. I don't recognize the species. Bipedal, mammal, two arms and about 5 nok in height," the bad-blood reported. "It's got a breather in its mouth."

"Kill it, if it has to rely on a breather it's too weak to survive," Seva'Vesh ordered.

"As you command Matriarch."

* * *

Yahto probably should have known better. When the environment inside the ship suddenly changed he wasn't acting when he started to panic and hyperventilate. He was in fact panicking and hyperventilating for real.

Something about the sudden change in climate and how it affected him caused his usually calm and collect mind to shatter. In his long life of experiences there were only a few dozen times when his faculties left him defenseless. Instead having to rely on instinct. Unfortunately, his instincts got him in more trouble when he started to breathe very quickly. If he still had his wits he should have tried to take slow full breaths to balance his oxygen intake.

Then when Ja'anya was trying to help him he instinctively resisted. However, eventually through the haze of low oxygen the alien word for 'friend' broke through.

"_Alright let's trust our new alien friends,"_ Yahto thought as a device was pushed into his mouth. It didn't take long to realize that the device was some sort of breathing apparatus. He felt himself lifted up and leaned against a wall.

What surprised him more after his mind began to function normally again was that he felt 'cooler'. As in the hot and humid climate of the ship didn't seem to affect him anymore.

"_Interesting,"_ before he could ponder the science behind the device he heard a very loud-

*BANG!*

He blinked a few times when he realized the explosion had just come from around the corner from where he lay. He tried to move, but realized that he was still a little weak. He heard the sounds of a struggle.

"_Crap, are Bigfoot's buddies already after us?"_ the sounds of struggle didn't last long as Yahto guessed Ja'anya and Kra'vyx were subdued quickly. Straining his ears he could hear alien voices speaking around the corner as well as multiple footsteps. One of which was approaching his position.

Deciding it was best to resume his acting and not make any sudden moves Yahto leaned back against the wall. Splaying his arms and legs out giving the appearance that he was still suffering from the climate change. Through squinting eyes he saw an alien step from around the corner.

"_Shit,"_ Yahto instantly recognized the dark armor similar to that of 'Bigfoot's companions'. Even though the alien wore its mask the body language spoke of surprise and disgust. _"I get the feeling 'out of the frying pan, and into the fire' is the appropriate cliché line right now."_

'Bigfoot's buddy' called out to someone around the corner. There was a short conversation none of which Yahto was able to pick up. The conversation ended with 'Bigfoot's buddy' pulling a telescoping spear from his belt. Pointing the tip at Yahto's chest the alien muttered something under its breath, probably a curse by the way it sounded. Then it drew the spear back in preparation to strike.

"_Well, you've forced my hand punk,"_ Yahto thought as he watch the spear descend.

Pushing off the floor with his arms Yahto was able to get his feet under him. In that same motion his hands went to his waist grabbing the two alien disc weapons from his belt. Yahto crouched low letting the spear pass above him. He smiled at how exposed his enemy was.

Activating the two weapons the six blades sprouted from the metal discs. Lunging forward he brought the two sets of blades up and across, cutting his enemy in the unprotected areas under the armpit and on the side of the abdomen. As Yahto went past he was amazed at how little resistance he felt as the blades cut flesh. Spinning around he was doubly amazed at how deep they had cut.

Originally he was trying to cut the blood artery in the armpit and slice the abdomen so it was painful to move. Inspecting the damage he had cut bone deep at the armpit and spilled the alien's guts.

"_These things are freakin' surgically sharp!" _he thought looked at the weapons in his hands.

"*ROAR*", Yahto quickly bounced away as the alien roared in pain. 'Bigfoot's buddy' in a pain filled rage, fueled with adrenaline turned to pursue Yahto. Yahto must have hit something vital because the alien was bleeding profusely from the armpit, covering its entire side with green florescent blood. Yahto stood his ground, intently watching 'Bigfoot's buddy' charge him leaving a pool of blood in its wake.

Judging the alien's stride Yahto lunged head first into his enemy's charge. As the alien thrust forward with its spear Yahto dove underneath. With the slick blood covering floor Yahto slid in-between his enemy's legs. With two quick swipes Yahto cut the insides of each thigh just below the crotch, hoping to cut another major artery and a couple of ligaments.

He spun to recover and turn to face his enemy. Yet again, Yahto had underestimated the sharpness of his weapons as he watched his enemy collapse face first into the floor gushing blood from both legs like a fountain.

Seeing an opening to end this quickly Yahto jumped onto the fallen enemy's back. He brought the blades straight across the back of his enemy's neck. Severing the head from the rest of its body.

Yahto took a few deep breathes making the breathing device in his mouth wheeze. Blinking a few times he suddenly felt like he was being watched. Slowly turning his head to his right he saw he definitely had an audience.

He counted at least seven of 'Bigfoot's friends' in the room, four of which were restraining Ja'anya and Kra'vyx. Every one of them looked at Yahto in disbelief as he stood over the corpse of his defeated enemy. Yahto evaluated the situation quickly.

In the background, outside of the alien space ship he could see they were in some sort of large chamber where he saw more of 'Bigfoot's friends' walking about. Returning his attention to inside the room he assessed the nearby enemies. There were all similarly armed. Telescoping spear on the belt, cannon mounted on the shoulder, masks, various knives and other bladed weapons.

At the center of the 'Bigfoot friends' congregation was who Yahto immediately assumed to be their leader.

The 'one in charge' appeared to be an alien Amazon. She stood at least nine feet tall from his best guess. Nine feet of pure muscle with her biceps being thicker than his thighs. She looked like she could bench press a fire truck. Her skin was a green color highlighted intermittently with mud brown splotches and an off white underbelly that reminded him of a crocodile. She was also very conformable flaunting her sexuality.

Being the typical male Yahto's eyes immediately went to the massive two watermelons on her chest. They were literally the size of watermelons, of course due to her massive height they appeared proportionate to the rest of her body. Her fashion statement for a bra though was very creative. Two black long six fingered hands appeared to reach from behind and grope her breasts. Her naughty bits were clearly visible, but the 'hand-bra' held her assets comfortably in place.

The bright green nipples...were kind of exotic. Also, female alien having human like breasts…what are the odds? Yahto chuckled silently to himself at the coincidence.

'Hot-mama-croc' looked like she had just stepped out of a Tarzan spoof porn shoot. Yahto didn't know if these aliens were into club wear, but the fishnet thing seemed to be a common taste in attire. He recognized the standard wrist gauntlets and shoulder mounted guns. From appearances he half expected the thigh high boots she wore to be high-heels or stilettos. The chain link skirt almost looked like something one could find at a medieval festival or ComicCon.

After looking over her figure one more time Yahto decided that 'Hot-mama-croc' was an appropriate nickname for this one.

* * *

Nobody made a move to disturb the obvious tension in the room as the lone creature looked at the pack of bad-bloods.

Ja'anya couldn't believe her eyes. This native creature, Yahto, had just killed a blooded hunter, with what seemed like minimal effort. Despite the small stature, Yahto looked intimidating bathed in blood, weapons slowly dripping.

The bad-bloods of the Cet Mar'cte Clan also seemed to be dumb founded by the appearance of the alien creature. Even more so after witnessing it kill one of their brethren.

Glancing over at Kra'vyx she could see a knowing look on his face. This was what he had been talking about. Was this how Yahto had defeated the Demon Bad-blood?

"Get these two out of here," matriarch Seva'Vesh growled. The bad-bloods holding Kra'vyx and Ja'anya gripped them tightly by the arms dragging them away from the ship into the hanger of the bad-blood frigate.

"You two, take it down," the matriarch ordered. The matriarch's two escorts rushed forward to attack Yahto. The sudden clanging of metal weapons striking halted the bad-bloods holding Ja'anya and Kra'vyx. They all turned to look back into the ship to watch the fight.

It was a draw dropping sight. The way Yahto moved was like something she had never seen before. She had always seen fights that were contests of strength and skill. However, this was something different.

Yahto moved like an acrobatic dancer. Spinning, jumping, bowing, rolling; meeting every aggressive powerful attack with a dodge. He did little in terms of attacking, instead maintaining his defensive and elusive maneuvers. When Yahto did block the force of his opponent's blow, it was only absorbed to increase the speed at which he was moving.

Ja'anya remembered Kra'vyx telling her how fiercely Yahto attacked the Demon bad-blood. How he had patiently and methodically whittled away at the Demon's defense until it was beaten to its knees. Kra'vyx explained that it was a battle of endurance and attrition. Surely Yahto hadn't thought this was a good strategy this time around.

She looked around as the sounds of battle had started to attract a small crowd of bad-bloods in the hanger. Even if Yahto defeated the two he was currently fighting, there was a ship full of bad-bloods the matriarch could call upon to fight.

"_Yahto couldn't possibly be thinking he could defeat them all?_" Ja'anya thought. Then again Yahto was still a primitive native. He couldn't possibly know how much trouble he was currently in.

"*ROOAARRR!*"

One of the bad-bloods roared in frustration as the prey continued its evasive maneuvers. Extending both of its arms wide he deployed his blade gauntlets to their full length, bring them both down simultaneously. In a flash of movement Yahto avoided the strikes yet again, but instead of hopping away he stepped inside the bad-blood's guard.

The shuriken smart disks that Yahto wielded became a blur of cold metal and hot blood. Ja'anya's eyes widened at the series of critical cuts Yahto scored. The bad-blood's arms fell limply to the side as blood poured in streams from the fingertips. The front of the torso was crisscrossed with deep lacerations weeping blood.

The killing blow was the horizontal slash to the neck. While not deep enough to sever the head, it cut through major blood arteries and the wind pipe. Yahto granted the bad-blood only a few more moments before Cetanu came to claim the bad-blood's soul.

There was a gasp of shock from the group of bad-bloods watching the fight. A murmur of conversation spread through the ranks. _ What kind of creature is this? How could it defeat one of the matriarch's guards so quickly? What do you think that thing tastes like?_ However, all conversations ceased just a few seconds later.

The other bad-blood did not hesitate at the sight of his brethren's death, coming in to attack Yahto's exposed back. Ja'anya gasped as Yahto just seemed to just stand there relishing in the kill.

A mere tendril's width before the bad-blood's weapon pierced Yahto's back he finally moved.

Yahto went horizontal with a mule kick directed at the bad-blood's knee. The perfect strike made the bad-blood fall to a knee. Spinning on his toe Yahto brought the first shuriken in a horizontal slash aimed at the bad-blood's throat. On reflex the bad-blood brought the combi-stick to successfully block the attack; almost.

The bad-blood halted the attack by blocking Yahto at the wrist. Either in anticipation of the block or the shock of hitting the bad-blood's guard the shuriken smart disc slipped from Yahto's grip. 'Thrown' from such a short distance the bad-blood didn't have enough time to react as the shuriken imbedded itself into the side of its face.

Following through on his attack even before the first shuriken slipped from his fingers Yahto came down in a vertical strike with the second shuriken. Before the bad-blood could give a cry of pain from the first shuriken penetrating the side of his face, the second pierced the middle of his mask. The six blades embedding themselves deep into the bad-blood's skull.

The two bad-bloods collapsed onto the metal floor with a metallic and fleshy thud mere fractions of a second apart.

The whole hanger bay was silent. This was certainly not what had been planned.

"Unexpected," Matriarch Seva'Vesh deadpanned. Bringing up her gauntlet computer she began to press a series of buttons. Yahto didn't know what to expect and decided to drop into a fighting stance with both arms in front of him facing the female Yautja.

* * *

"_You going to come at me now 'Hot-mama-croc'?"_ Yahto thought inside his head watching the female press a bunch of buttons on her wrist computer. He was expecting her to engage an invisibility field that he had seen 'Bigfoot' use back on the planet. Yahto made note of several of the weapons the aliens had dropped.

After 'Hot-mama-croc' made her first move he needed to arm himself. The nearest weapon was one of those telescoping spears that all these aliens seemed-

"GAH!" Yahto sudden looked around confused as he suddenly felt heavy. He looked back at 'Hot-mama-croc' to see she had stopped pressing buttons to look at him intently. _"What did she just do?"_

Yahto paid closer attention this time. He watched her return her gaze to the wrist computer as she pressed another series of buttons. Her finger paused for moment as she looked back up at him. The finger fell, pressing the last button. Yahto's knees bent as he suddenly felt like he had doubled in weight.

"_What the hell is she doing?"_ Yahto grew more confused. Looking at the female alien she suddenly seemed pleased with something. Yahto's eyes widened as her fingers began typing again on the wrist computer. _"Whatever she is doing, she's going to do it again! I've got to get out of here."_

Yahto started to make determined steps towards the exit ramp that the 'Hot-mama-croc' guarded. His steps were slow as he tried to make his way forward. He tried to pick up the pace to a run as he now recognized the typing pattern. _"Bitch, don't you…*GRUNT!*…dare."_

Yahto's weight suddenly increased again as he felt the burn in his legs from just simply walking.

"_She must be increasing the gravity,"_ Yahto guessed as he desperately made his way towards the exit. That pleasantly amused look on 'Hot-mama-croc's' face did not bode well for Yahto. _"She's playing with me,"_ he surmised.

He was just a have dozen steps from the exit now. Building as much forward moment as possible Yahto dove to one side of the exit, away from 'Hot-mama-croc'. Due to the increased gravity Yahto's movements were slow and easily predicted. Just when he thought he was clear a foot appeared out of nowhere, kicking him straight in the face.

Yahto groaned in pain as he laid on his back. Struggling to get up he felt the gravity increase for the fourth time, pressing him back into the floor. Feeling like a turned over turtle Yahto with great effort rolled on his stomach and started to crawl towards the exit.

He grit his teeth and glared at 'Hot-mama-croc'. Her eyes a light with amusement and glee at his desperate struggle. She let him crawl his way back to the ship's exit before increasing the gravity again.

Yahto's arms and legs buckled forcing him into the floor.

"GRRrrrrr," biting down on the mouth piece of the breather he let out an animalistic growl as he struggled to push himself forward. Just when he was making progress the gravity increased again.

Yahto felt as if his skin and muscles were being pulled off the bone. His stomach felt like he had eaten a bunch of rocks and were pulling his innards out through his abdomen. He started to lose feeling in his arms and legs as his blood didn't have enough pressure to flow correctly through his body. His mind became fuzzy as his blood also didn't have enough pressure to reach his brain.

He felt the gravity increase for a seventh time. He fell flat, being pressed into the floor, not moving.

"_Death by gravity,"_ Yahto chuckled to himself. _"That's a new one to add to the list."_

* * *

"STOP IT!" Kra'vyx looked around to see who had just shouted. Noticing all the eyes in the hanger bay looking at him, he realized **he** was the one that shouted. From the top of the ramp Seva'Vesh had turned to glare at her unblooded prisoner.

"Matriarch Seva'Vesh, please stop this!" he repeated, this time with a little hesitation. Summoning his courage he took a breath before continuing. "This creature is the one who killed the blooded hunter tasked to hunt us," he motioned the Ja'anya standing behind him. "He treated your brethren with honor in battle and even afterwards in death. Giving them a proper burial under the circumstances."

As Kra'vyx spoke Seva'Vesh walked away from the creature suffering towards the unblooded whelp who had the audacity to speak directly to her. At the end of his blathering she towered over the short male challenging him to say another word. Taking a hard swallow Kra'vyx craned his neck to look up at her.

"If you are to kill him let it be the death worthy of a warrior. Let him die in battle," Kra'vyx pleaded as he closed his objection to her actions. He stared directly into her eyes for a brief moment longer before looking back the floor.

Matriarch Seva'Vesh stood there secretly surprised that this pup would raise his voice to her. It had been a while since a stranger had spoken to her like that. The last one who had done that was an elite arbiter sent to assassinate her, his skull now decorated her trophy room.

For one so young to show such bravery to stand up to her… well she had been in an astonished mood ever since that creature killed the one of her personal guards; now three; four if she included the one this pup claimed it killed on the planet; it had also withstood seven times normal gravity before collapsing.

TODAY had been FULL of surprises for her!

The whole hanger bay was quietly waiting for her decision.

"Very well, I will take great pleasure hearing that thing, you and your friend plead for death," she spoke coldly sending shivers down Kra'vyx's spine. She pushed through the group of spectators that had assembled heading toward the exit of the docking hanger.

"TAKE THESE THREE PIECES OF MEAT TO DECONTAMINATION!" Seva'Vesh yelled out. Her voice echoing throughout the frigate's entire hanger bay. "THROW THE MALE PUP AND THE CREATURE IN THE CAGES! TAKE THE FEMALE TO MY SPECIAL LAB!"

She entered a lift to take her to the bridge of the ship. Turning around to look back into the hanger she saw everyone had dispersed back to their assigned tasks. The two unblooded hunters willing went with their escorts. A group of four guards were heading up the ramp to retrieve the creature. Her eyes widened when she saw that the creature was lying on the top of the ramp.

"_In seven times normal gravity that animal was still able to crawl out of there,"_ color her impressed. The doors to the lift closed.

* * *

**Definitions:**

**Pauk – F**k**

**kiandi amedha – hard meat, xenomorph**

**Cetanu – God of Death, the Black Hunter**

**Cet Mar'cte Clan – Black Killer Clan. The Bad-Blood Clan that hunted Ja'anya, Kra'vyx and their friends.**

* * *

**A/N: And that's all for now folks. ****So I've decided that instead of bogging down my author's announcement with replies to reviewers instead I'll be replying to the reviewer's comments through private messages. If there is a really good question I'll post it for everyone to read.**

**Reader, thank you again for joining me. A special thank you to Khalthar and Wolf's Bar for beta-reading and reviewing this chapter before publishing. Another special thanks to Wolf's Bar Dakkaman777 for helping me adopt the name Seva'Vesh for the villainess. Her full title and name is 'Matriarch Seva'Vesh the Depraved'. I haven't been very good with names so I appreciate their help.**

**And as always thanks to readers who left comments for the previous chapter. ****That's all for now folks hope your wait was worthwhile. Please leave comments and constructive criticisms. Until next time, Peace. -Saber**


	9. Prisoners

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with others.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Prisoners

Matriarch Seva'Vesh of the Cet Mar'cte Clan was deep in thought as she rode the lift to the bridge of her ship. She had not foreseen this series of events that had unfolded moments ago.

Two un-blooded hunters and a primitive life-form had defeated her Clan's hunting party on the planet's surface then commandeered their ship in an attempt to escape. If she had not been waiting patiently in orbit to pick up her clansmen those three would have succeeded in their escape.

The lift stopped and the doors opened as she stepped onto the ship's command bridge. The officers manning their stations paused for a second to bow in respect before returning to their tasks.

"Matriarch," the captain of the ship addressed her formally, "shall we resume our journey to retrieve the remaining hunting parties?"

"No," she spoke softly. Her answer seemed to surprise most of those present. She paused for a moment to question what she was doing. The louder with authority, "enter a lower orbit around this planet and perform a detailed scan."

"Matriarch?" the captain voiced the crew's confusion.

"Do it," Seva'Vesh growled her mandibles twitching in annoyance at the dumbfounded response of the ship's captain. The bridge became a buzz with activity as the navigator set the course for a lower orbit. The instruments officer cooperated with the navigator to begin scanning the planet. Engineering began compensating the ship's systems to handle the planet's gravitational forces. The captain smiled proudly as they saw the crew operate without any instruction on his part.

The captain looked to Seva'Vesh, waiting for some sort of praise as to how well his crew operated, but none came. She was lost in thought and did not divvy out complements for tasks that were mundane. Seva'Vesh ignored the operations with disinterest, instead staring at the globe shown on the main display.

"Matriarch Seva'Vesh, may I ask why you wish to have the planet scanned?" the captain hesitatingly asked not wanting to displease her.

"Do you know of the garbage we picked up from the planet?"

"The two unblooded and the creature?"

"Yes, the creature showed great skill and strength. If there are more of them they might prove to be worthy prey." The captain only nodded at her answer. Finding worthy prey was seldom for bad-blood clans. Most of the well-known prey hunted by the Yautja were regulated by the Clans. The Clans, or the 'righteous-bloods' as they sometimes referred to them, were all the other clans that were not stigmatized as 'bad-bloods'.

Since the Clans regulated the hunting of these species they usually monopolized these hunting territories in which the prey were found. Leaving scraps for the bad-blood's to hunt. Venturing into a 'righteous-blood's' hunting grounds was always met with immediate hostility. Finding worthy prey outside the 'righteous-bloods' territories was a rarity and always an indulgence to the bad-blood clans.

There were of course the Black Yautja who were a different breed unto themselves. They were not bad-bloods or righteous-bloods, they stood above all Yautja as the ultimate alphas of their species. They did what they wanted, when they wanted, how they wanted and no one could stand in their way.

As the captain returned his thoughts to possibly finding a virgin hunting ground for his kind, Seva'Vesh was deep in her own thoughts. While similar thoughts to that of the captain's may have passed through Seva'Vesh's mind, that was not what she was currently contemplating.

Deep down she wanted to slaughter whatever settlement that creature was from. Internally grinning at the idea of showing the severed heads of its family to the creature. Her teeth gleamed and mandibles twitched in anticipation of the genocide she would bring upon this planet.

"Scan complete," the instruments officer reported. "Numerous life signs detected, readings indicate all non-sentient live forms," Seva'Vesh hid her disappointment at the announcement.

"Are there any erected structures or foreign objects?" Seva'Vesh queried.

"There is a crashed ship of unknown origin on the southern hemisphere. It appears to have been there for quite a while by the amount of vegetation now covering the wreck," the crew member reported.

"Interesting," Seva'Vesh put these few facts together to theorize that the creature currently on the ship was not native to the planet below. Possibly the only remaining survivor of a crash landing. Which meant his species was spacefaring, thus intelligent and advanced. Since the creature had lived for so long alone without knowledge, technology and society it had defaulted to its primeval nature.

"Look through our database, see if there is any known spacefaring animal that matches the creature," Seva'Vesh ordered. "Send me any information you find. Captain, you may proceed to retrieve the remaining hunting parties. I will be in my laboratory. Do not disturb me," with that Seva'Vesh turned and exited the bridge.

She was usually not this curious when it came to prey, but this one had definitely caught her attention. If only because she had a small nook in her collection where its skull would fill nicely. That is if it proved to be worthy of that small nook.

* * *

Ja'anya was not one to experience humiliation often. When it usually occurred it was when she was sparring with a superior opponent or arguing with a greater intellect. When she was younger her bearer would humiliate her when she had gotten arrogant. These experiences always had a constructive side to them. The situation she was currently in had no secondary value.

After Matriarch Seva'Vesh the Depraved had departed Kra'vyx, Yahto and herself were roughly dragged away from the hangar. All the while the bad-bloods would shout insults as they walked past. Some would push them so they would stumble, giving the guard an opportunity to yank hard on their restraints.

Their guards dragged them off to a room adjacent to the hangar. Inside the guards immediately began stripping them of their armor, clothes and other belongings. To be treated like this was more than humiliating, it was degrading. There was no respect given to the conquered and captured. They were little more than slaves.

After being stripped naked they were pushed up against a wall. A guard's hands lingered a little longer on her. They felt the curve of her waist before dropping lower to grab a handful of her right buttock. She let out a displeased growl which only got her a slap on the ass and a chorus of laughter from the assembled guards.

A cold torrent of cold water hit her enough force to slam Ja'anya against the wall. Instead of letting them bathe themselves, the guards found it necessary to use a fire suppression hose as a shower. The high pressure was almost painful as she tried to scrub the dirt and dead skin off with her hands. Looking over at her male companions she could see them in a similar situation. She was feeling especially sorry for the smallest member of their party.

Yahto was probably the most frightened among them, but he did a very good job at hiding it. Meeting alien beings, fighting them, freaking out on the ship, more fighting, almost being crushed to death… the primitive had certainly experienced an amazing last few days. Now he was literally pinned to the wall by a stream of high-pressurized water.

Sparing a few glances at Yahto's naked form, Kra'vyx's assumption that it was a male was correct. Yahto's genitals were similar to that of a Yautja male, which made them easier to recognize. Without the native leather clothing Ja'anya was surprised at how physically fit Yahto appeared. Lean coiled muscles told of the endurance, speed and strength the native possessed.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to fight off the torrent of water nearly ripping the skin from his body. He desperately held on to the breather as if it was the only thing allowing him to survive. It also did not help that the guards took great pleasure in torturing her new friend. Aiming the stream of water at his face and groin Yahto desperately tried to block the painful barrage of water. The guards laughed at how 'weak' he was.

Kra'vyx was in a similar situation, if a little better off than Yahto. Humiliated, insulted, stripped naked and now hosed down like some sort of livestock. Ja'anya could see the defeat in his eyes as he bowed his head into the stream of cold water. He was just gritting his teeth to bear with this just a little longer. Now would have been the perfect opportunity to give Kra'vyx a complement for his well sculpted body, with the hope of raising his spirit. Yet the next spray of cold water that hit Ja'anya's face dissuaded her from doing so.

When the 'bathing' finally stopped Yahto looked utterly exhausted. His long mane was completely water logged, hanging down like a wet mop. He took no time in wringing the water out of his hair. Finally pulled his hair away from his face. She could tell he was definitely unhappy.

The ship's hot temperature soon evaporated the excess moisture from their bodies. Each of them were given a simple loin cloth to wear. The style and cut of clothing a slave would usually wear. Yahto showed a little difficulty wearing his as it was several sizes too large. The guards laughed at how Yahto needed 'baby clothes'. Joking that maybe he needed a diaper since he wasn't 'potty trained'. Yahto figured it out on his own, tying a few extra knots to make the oversized loincloth fit his smaller frame.

The guards placed them all in cuffs as they marched down the halls of the ship. Ja'anya and Kra'vyx both dreading what was going to happen next. Every horrible story they had ever heard about bad-bloods playing through their mind only concreting the inevitability that they were going to die here.

Ja'anya glanced back at Yahto to see how he was doing. Surprisingly he was doing far better than both Kra'vyx and herself. Apparently already forgetting the suffering he had experienced being cleaned by a high-pressured hose, his eyes and attention were everywhere. Looking at every doorway and passageway with childlike curiosity. The guard holding him frequently had to push him along as he would sometimes pause to study something.

At one intersection of corridors Ja'anya continued going straight as Kra'vyx and Yahto were pulled right.

"Ja-na?" Yahto's voice made her look back over her shoulder. Yahto had stopped to stare at her with a worried and questioning look on his face. The guard holding his restraints tried to force him back into line, but it was as if Yahto had become an anchor.

"JANA?!" Yahto called out more panic evident in his voice. The guard got a better grip on Yahto and was now able to pull him along. She didn't know her pace had slowed until the guard behind her gave her a push to keep going.

"JANA! FRIEND JANA! JANA!" Ja'anya couldn't help, but suddenly feel a little emotional as she heard Yahto's desperate cries echo off the bulkheads. Her guards pushed her into a lift and even after the doors closed she could faintly hear his shouts.

A cold wave of loneliness swept over Ja'anya when all she could hear was the hum of the lift and the deep breathing of the guards escorting her. She started to pray silently to Paya for protection for her friends and herself. She prayed directly to Lilka to preserve her life and the lives of her friends. She was beseeching Lilka's lifemate Cetanu to give them all courage, honor and strength to persevere on this trail before them.

She continued to mentally say prayers as her guards guided her out of the lift down a few more corridors before being led into a large room. It smelled like a healer's clinic. The scent of disinfectants, herbs and chemicals were heavy in the air.

Her guards wasted no time in chaining her arms and legs to a wall. There was slack in the chains to allow her some movement, but she was otherwise restrained. Once the guards were certain she could not escape her bindings they left without so much as a second glance. The sudden silence with a sense of oncoming doom weighed heavy.

Before Seva'Vesh left the hangar Ja'anya distinctly remembered that she instructed the guards to take her to the 'special lab'. She assumed this was the place Seva'Vesh was referring to. The title 'special lab' did not inspire any positive feelings for her as she inspected her surroundings.

She recognized equipment pertaining to chemistry, genetics, medicine and a few other sciences. Along one wall was a rack of various types of weapons, she did not wish to speculate why they were in a 'laboratory'. In one corner she saw a large bed which seemed completely out of place from the other objects in the room. Along all the walls and in some places on the ceiling and floor she saw anchor holds, similar to the ones that were currently connected to the chains restraining her to the wall. Ja'anya questioned them only for a moment before remembering one blaring detail.

Seva'Vesh had specifically said 'take the female to my special lab'. This was Matriarch Seva'Vesh's laboratory! Matriarch Seva'Vesh the Depraved of the Cet Mar'cte Clan!

Seva'Vesh had not earned the title of Depraved for nothing.

Before Ja'anya could recall the stories of how the bad-blood Matriarch had earned her title the door to the laboratory opened.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, my dear." Seva'Vesh's apology was so sweet that for a moment Ja'anya almost didn't register that it was Seva'Vesh who had spoken. "I had some business on the bridge that I had to attend to before I could join you. I apologize for my tardiness; I hope you can forgive me."

Something was terribly wrong. The sweet coated words, polite manners and the apology? Her instincts and mind screamed that she was in danger. How could this female's voice be so disarming? Where was the terrifying Matriarch that she had met in the hangar bay?

"I hope you don't mind, but clothing gets awfully uncomfortable." Without hesitation the Matriarch began to undress, beginning with her custom made kiandi amedha hand-bra. Seva'Vesh seemed to move deliberately slow in taking off the hand-bra, as if it was painful to wear. After removing it she then slowly massaged her full mammary glands as if to remove any residual soreness.

Next that followed were the pauldrons which she pulled off her shoulder a little hastier. Setting them beside the hand-bra on a table she then detached her chain linked skirt and wrist gauntlets carelessly tossing them onto the pile. Balancing on one foot she removed her thigh high armored boots, letting them fall to the floor with a heavy clunk.

The sight was bizarre to Ja'anya. The method that Seva'Vesh was taking off her armor and clothes was lazy, but deliberately so. She could not understand Seva'Vesh's behavior. First, sweet coated words, now this; Ja'anya was confused.

The last article of armor was her cloaking and environmental mesh. Seva'Vesh turned her back to Ja'anya as she slowly undid the clasps to the mesh. Again Seva'Vesh's movements had slowed down as she began to peel the mesh down. She slid her hand down her side following her torso to her waist, then down to her hips, on down to her waist. As she did Seva'Vesh bent at the hips, purposely extending her rear end towards Ja'anya.

Seva'Vesh slid the bunched mesh down her legs and then delicately stepped out of it. She placed her feet on either side of the environment mesh on the floor, whilst still bent over. Ja'anya felt a rush of something through her veins that she did not quite recognize as she looked at the Matriarch in this position. She wanted to look away, but her instincts and education told her to never take your eyes off an enemy. Reaching down to the floor Seva'Vesh pulled the mesh up by the shoulders. She straightened it out before draping it over a chair close by.

"Ahhh… that's better," Seva'Vesh stretched her arms high over her head as a few pops sounded from her back. "Oh, that felt good."

Seva'Vesh now stood posing in front of Ja'anya naked as she stretched. Nudity in Yautja culture inside a family's home was a common practice, even amongst members of opposite sexes. So for a stranger to expose themselves like this usually meant they were very close friends or wanted to mate. Seva'Vesh was definitely not her close friend and mating was out of the question. She was female, Seva'Vesh was female; Ja'anya's confusion and discomfort only increased.

"Hm," Seva'Vesh began walking over to the wall with the weapon rack with Ja'anya's eyes closely following her.

*WUH-PSSSH!*

Ja'anya didn't notice Seva'Vesh take a whip off the wall. The sudden crack of the whip made Ja'anya jump. Her heart rate rocketed as she registered too late the whip traveled straight at her then withdrew in a flash. She felt a gust of air from the weapon brush her skin, but she did not feel the whip's sting.

"It's just us females here," Seva'Vesh sing-songed. "No need for that little huntress." The whip hung harmlessly around her neck. However, Ja'anya regarded it as a silent threat. Ja'anya blinked a few times before she felt something sliding down her legs.

Looking down she saw the loincloth she had been given slowly slide down her leg to the floor. Ja'anya's eyes widened now recognizing how skilled Seva'Vesh was with a whip. To be able to break the thin leather waist string without harming the wearer; the realization was not comforting.

It took a few more seconds for Ja'anya to recognize that she was now just as naked as Seva'Vesh. She attempted to cross her legs to cover herself, but the chains holding her ankles kept her slightly exposed as she blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't be embarrassed little huntress."

Ja'anya pressed her back against the wall as Seva'Vesh remarkably covered the distance between them without making a sound. Ja'anya stood wide-eyed at the Matriarch who stood above her smiling down. The feeling of fear suddenly surged through Ja'anya as she looked up at the towering figure before her. The look in Seva'Vesh's, eyes despite their joyful gleam, filled Ja'anya with dread.

"It's just us females here."

* * *

"JANA! JAAANNAAA!"

*CLANG*

"Will you SHUT UP!" the bad-blood guard yelled as he struck the bars of Yahto's cell with a baton. Yahto jumped away from bars briefly halting his shouting to regard the guard before resuming.

"JAANNAAA! JAANNNAAA!"

"You!" the guard pointed his baton at Kra'vyx who was sitting on a bunk in the same cell as Yahto. "Tell him to shut up."

"JAANNNAAA! JANA! JAANNNAAA!"

"How? He doesn't speak our language," Kra'vyx replied.

"JANA! JAAANNAAA!"

"JUST PAUKING KNOCK HIM OUT OR SOMETHING!" The guard ordered. Kra'vyx gave an exhausted sigh as he stood up.

"JAANNAAA! JAANNNAAA!"

"Yahto stop," Kra'vyx said calmly.

"JANA! JANA!"

"Yahto stop," Kra'vyx repeated a little louder this time.

"JAANNNAAA! JANA! JANA!"

"YAHTO STOP," Kra'vyx gripped the smaller native by the shoulder spinning him around to face him. The native froze for a moment before looking up at Kra'vyx.

"JANA!" Yahto desperately pointed in the direction that Ja'anya had disappeared.

"Yes, yes, I know, Ja'anya went that way," Kra'vyx said giving another exhausted sigh.

"J-J-Jana," Yahto said again this time with less enthusiasm, still pointing in the direction she disappeared.

"Yahto," Kra'vyx slowly shook his head. For some reason Yahto seemed to understand, his head drooping sadness clearly in his posture.

"Pfft, what a pup."

*CLANG!*

The bad-blood guard jumped back as the small creature suddenly attacked the bars of its prison cell. The creature looked at the guard in seething rage making the guard panic for a moment before realizing the animal was caged.

"What's the matter little pup? Loose your mama?" The guard taunted. Yahto's eyes narrowed at the guard, attempting to melt the offender with his gaze. With a grunt of disinterest Yahto went to sit on a bunk in the cell. He sprawled out on the bench legs spread haphazardly, head resting against the back of the wall and arms resting on his stomach. The guard seeing that his taunting was no longer working decided he had other responsibilities needing his attention.

Kra'vyx gave another sigh before walking to the bunk opposite Yahto. Sitting down with a huff he looked across the small prison to his cellmate. He had never given Yahto a full inspection thus far. Sure he had given his a hard glance when they first met, but now he had an opportunity to really study his new friend.

He was about a full head shorter than himself. He had a thin spartan layer of short fur or hair covering his entire body. There were denser sections around about the head, arms, legs and groin. The head had the longest and thickest patch of hair. It grew wild, seeming to expand in all directions in a chaotic mess.

On his face there were two eyes with a brow above which was expressive and spoke his feelings. A nose centered in his middle of his face with a mouth beneath. When Yahto was speaking Kra'vyx remember seeing flat and pointed teeth inside his mouth, hinting that his kind could consume a diet of mixed food items. There were flaps of flesh on either side of his head with a small hole at the center. Studying many different species of prey he assumed they were what gave Yahto his sense of hearing.

Only clothed in the loincloth Kra'vyx could see Yahto had several scars were on his forearms and right shoulder. Each scar had four parallel lines nearly evenly spaced from each other. Looking at the pattern Kra'vyx recognized they were most likely from sort of clawed beast. The scars on his forearms were horizontal suggesting that Yahto had crossed his arms in front of him for defense. The one on his shoulder was when the beast finally broke through his guard and raked him.

As Kra'vyx inspected his friend Yahto would occasionally bring the breather to his mouth, take a half dozen breaths, before removing it. Kra'vyx guess that Yahto was trying to acclimate to their climate. It was probably for the best since the bad-bloods would no doubt take the device away eventually.

Satisfied he had learned all he could from his friend's appearance Kra'vyx laid back on the bunk to look at the bland ceiling.

How did this happen? He didn't have the answer.

What will happen? Again he didn't have the answer.

Yahto brought the breathing device away from his mouth again feeling its effects disappear. Without the device in his mouth it felt like he was in a sauna. The air was thick with moisture. If he had to guess the temperature it would have to be about 102 degrees Fahrenheit. With the added humidity he could put an exact number value to how hot it felt. To keep himself entertained he converted Fahrenheit to Kelvin then to Celsius in his head.

That little conversion exercise made him wonder if humanity had finally decided to agree on one measurement system.

'_Nah, the Americans would still want to feel special. If there is still an America?'_ Yahto thought silently. The geo-political climate had been 'stormy' when he had left. Borders between nations were being abolished and nations were beginning to lose their self-identity. World leaders trying to shepherd their sheep into one herd so the wolves only had to go one place for a slaughter.

Speaking of slaughter, Yahto thought about his little fight back in the hanger bay where he killed three more of these aliens. He was most definitely now on someone 'shit list'. He was probably on Shevest, Sevahest, Sava'ish- whatever- 'hot mama croc's' kill list. He was definitely getting that vibe from the whole almost killed by gravity thing.

However, she seemed…'pleased' that he endured as long as she did. 'Hot-mama-croc' definitely lived up to her nickname by the way she sashayed her booty as she left the hanger bay.

'_Yahto, you are not thinking about going after extraterrestrial ass, you are not going after extraterrestrial ass, you are not going after extraterrestrial ass… but dat ass. AND dem boobs!'_ he couldn't believe he was joking about this right now. Then again, 'life' was a joke to him.

Doing a brief glance around he was amazing how similar looking this alien species' brig shared in common with one on a human vessel. Heavy metal bars on one side with solid ceiling, floor and three walls. The two bunks in the room seemed to be the only features, besides a small trough inlayed into the floor against the back wall. If he had to guess the trough was their 'toilet'.

Looking up at the ceiling he tried to remember the last time he was ever in prison. Seriously in prison, all those times he was picked of the street after a very fun night of drinking didn't really count because they were too numerous. If he remembered correctly the last time he was in prison on a serious charge was about six hundred years ago. He had beaten three men to a pulp who were raping a young boy. He ended up in jail for battery, but everything turned out alright. Bad guys were sent to prison, the young boy went a psychiatrist and he was released. And everyone is died in the end; except him.

His mind started to wander back to more current events, why was Ja'anya separated from them? Maybe she got the 'special prison cell' that had a sink and shower included? Probably not, these 'bad alien guys' didn't seem like the type to offer special accommodations to guests.

He needed to learn their language to understand what was going on.

Looking over at Kra'vyx across the room it appeared his friend was as pondering the answer to life, death, the universe and everything. Yahto already knew the answer was 42, but there was no point in trying to explain that to him. Yahto knew that Kra'vyx was not ready for the ultimate answer to life, death, the universe and everything. He was far too young to be endowed with this knowledge or to be seeking the answer to the ultimate question on his own. A distraction must be in order.

Getting up from his spot on the bench Yahto went to sit cross-legged on the floor in the center of the cell.

"Kraxs," Yahto spoke butchering Kra'vyx name to maintain his 'primitive native' act. Kra'vyx looked down at Yahto who patted the floor next to him with his hand. Kra'vyx pondered it for a moment before Yahto repeated the action of patting the floor next to him.

Understanding Yahto wanted him to sit next to him Kra'vyx gave a grunt as he rose of his bunk. Talking a few lazy steps Kra'vyx huffed as he sat next to his new friend cross-legged, tilting his head to communicate the question of 'what do you want?' Reaching underneath his beard Yahto pulled out his oldest possession.

Undoing the clasp Yahto brought out a necklace hidden underneath his beard. Decorated with small beads and two long fangs this necklace was nearly as old as he was. The beads were made from different materials, each one referencing a fond memory he always wanted to remember.

A small jade bead from his travels in ancient China. A 9mm bullet with a hole drilled through it from his time in the French Foreign Legion. A gold nugget commemorating his journey across the United States of America in the California gold rush of 1849. A silver ring from his twenty-eighth marriage bent into a pretzel so it fit better on the necklace cord.

The oldest and largest ornaments on the unbreakable carbon-graphene cord were the two-four inch long sabretooth tiger fangs.

It was the first hunt in his entire life. A little more than a decade before the event that granted him immortality. He was just beginning his transition into manhood and was overjoyed when the chief of his tribe decided he was ready to start joining the other men in hunting expeditions. He followed the other men of the tribe with excitement. He was instructed to stay at the rear of the pack where he could watch the more experienced hunters work and learn from their example.

The hunters were closing in on a herd of deer in a large meadow. To stay out of their way he had found a bush to hide in. From here he had a great outlook over the large meadow. He wasn't the only one who had decided this was a good spot to view the meadow. The only warning he had was the quiet sound of padded feet on soft dirt.

Yahto screamed in alarm as the sabretooth tiger leapt at him from behind. In a panic he dropped his spear to bring his arms in front of him to block the attack. The tiger claws ripped through his leather cloths and soft flesh. He cried out in pain as he fell to the ground the predator posed over him for another swipe with is claws. When the claws fell again it raked his left shoulder, ripping his skin, breaking his collar bone and a few ribs.

As the tiger maw came down to crush his head in its jaws he desperately felt for the obsidian dagger knife on his belt. Inches away from death he gripped the familiar wooden handle. The tiger roared in pain as the blade of black glass was stabbed into its neck. The animal quickly turned to flee, snapping the knife's blade in half. One half still attached to the handle, the other embedded in its neck.

The hunting party hearing the commotion soon appeared after the sabretooth tiger had fled. Seeing the bloody scene they quickly brought Yahto to the tribe's shaman while a small band of hunters followed the trail of blood left behind by the tiger. When the small band returned to the camp they were in celebration as the stab wound to the neck proved fatal for the tiger.

Yahto had become a man on his first hunt. It was his first noteworthy kill. It was the first trophy of a great accomplishment. It was one of his first memories. It was also the first time he realized how painful life could be. The healing of his broken bones, the fever fits and infection that followed were probably more memorable than the adrenaline rush from facing the sabretooth tiger.

Yahto blinked a few times as the ancient memory faded.

Looking at Kra'vyx sitting next to him he could tell the necklace interested his new alien friend greatly. All the stories that the necklace held would mean nothing if Yahto could not communicate them.

Looking through the different bits and baubles Yahto's fingers finally found what he was looking for. An uncut diamond the size of his thumbnail that he had gotten from a mine in South Africa while he was with a British expeditionary force. Just like everything else on the cord it had a hole drilled through it so it could remain on the string of memories.

Taking the hard carbon pebble he began to scratch a symbol onto the floor.

"A," Yahto said pointing to the symbol he had drawn. Looking at Kra'vyx to see he had the alien's attention. "A," he repeated pointing to the symbol and making eye contact with Kra'vyx. He then proceeded to scribe another symbol.

"Be," Yahto pointing the new symbol on the floor. "Be," he reiterated pointing, before heading on to the next one.

"Ce," Kra'vyx apparently was beginning to understand. When Yahto looked at him he slowly nodded his head up and down. Yahto's eyes brightened.

Again taking the carbon diamond in his fingers Yahto started to scribe something he didn't know. He had noticed this symbol many times in what little he had seen of their written language. Once he was done Yahto pointed to it, but did not speak. Instead he looked at Kra'vyx, tilted his head and raised one eyebrow in a silent question.

"Kya," Kra'vyx spoke. Yahto's lips curled up into a smile.

* * *

**Definitions:**

**Lilka - Goddess of the home, hearth, health, healing, love, and life. She is mostly kind, caring, and gentle, but can be stern when needed. Unlike her Lifemate/Husband (Cetanu) she can be very forgiving as well.**

**Pauk – F**k**

**kiandi amedha – hard meat, xenomorph**

**Cetanu – God of Death, the Black Hunter. He is the EPITOME of skill, strength, power, speed, honor, and determination. He represents EVERYTHING that a Warrior tries to emulate. Also known as The Dark Hunter; in this guise, he is the Yautja version of the Grim Reaper, or the Angel of Death. He collects the souls of those who have died and judges them. Those who have honor are welcomed to his realm which is very similar to the Viking's Valhalla. Feasting, fighting, and hunting for eternity.**

**Paya – the plural for All the gods, the pantheon of gods and goddesses.**

**Cet Mar'cte Clan – Black Killer Clan. The Bad-Blood Clan that hunted Ja'anya, Kra'vyx and their friends.**

* * *

**A/N: Reader, thank you again for joining me. A special thank you to Khalthar for beta-reading and reviewing, yet again. Another special thanks to Wolf's Bar and Dakkaman777 for helping me adopt the name Seva'Vesh (aka Hot-Mama-Croc) as the current villainess.**

**And thank you to readers who left comments for the previous chapter. ****That's all for now folks hope your wait was worthwhile. Please leave comments and constructive criticisms. Until next time, Peace. -Saber**


	10. Guests of the Enemy

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with others.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Guest of the Enemy

"Though the pAth loOks clear, TRaps are hid-den."

"Good."

"The gLO-ry is in the HunT, and enjoyMEnt in the fea-st."

"Good."

"A patieNt hunter knOw-s wheN to sT-ike."

"A patient hunter knows when to STR-ike."

"Strrrike. StRike. Strike."

"Very good Yahto, you're doing well," Kra'vyx commended his fellow cell mate.

"ThanK you, Kraaa'Vyx," Yahto bowed his head slightly, before righting himself to show a beaming smile. Kra'vyx moved his hand to point out another phrase scratched into the wall of their cell.

"A bl-Ade musssT all-ways be kept sharp."

"Very good, now here is a new one," Kra'vyx went to an un-scratched part of the wall. Taking the tip of his claw he scratched out a new phrase for Yahto to practice. Yahto concentrated as Kra'vyx inscribed each symbol. Out of the corner of his eye Kra'vyx could see Yahto silently moving his mouth trying to pronounce the words.

"Alright, what does this one say?"

"IN danGe-er, a hunt-er…musssT be Com-pos-ed," Yahto sounded out slowly.

"Pfft, why do you teach that savage anything?" Yahto and Kra'vyx turned round to look out of their cell.

"Because it's better and far more productive than your whimpering," Kra'vyx shot back fiercely with his mandibles twitching in irritation.

"Well, if you want to be 'productive'," their disgruntle neighbor sarcastically snarled, "then maybe you should be teaching it how to fight."

"I told you, a dozen times by now. Yahto has killed five bad-bloods," Kra'vyx snarled back louder. "One unblooded and four w-"

"Ha! You expect us to believe that? That little pauk is no bigger than an infant. What you're saying is impossible."

"I would say the same thing if I didn't see it, but it did hap-"

"You Dumb Pauk! You need to have your eyes checked, because there is no w-"

"Both of you enough," a new voice sounded from one of the other cells. "Your bickering is pointless. Let him teach the savage our tongue if he so chooses, it keeps his mind off our inescapable fate."

"Hmft, fine! There is no point to all of this. Just keep it quiet, I don't want my sleep disturbed."

"Very well," Kra'vyx reluctantly agreed, if only to keep his neighbors quiet themselves.

For the past week, two weeks? Kra'vyx realized that he had lost track of time since their imprisonment. Well, ever since they had been captured they had steadily been getting neighbors filling the cells around them; most of them unblooded hunters. They were all from a different assortment of clans, but all shared one similarity. They were attacked and now imprisoned by the Cet Mar'cte Bad-Blood Clan.

The few prisoners what were blooded had not been for long. The only discernable difference between Kra'vyx and one of these blooded hunters was the fresh scar on their forehead that signified that they were successful in completing their Kainde Amedha Chiva. There were currently eight prisoners; a total of ten if they counted themselves; eleven if they included Ja'anya; whose current status and location were unknown.

Kra'vyx paused when he thought about his fellow clan member. They had not seen nor heard of her since the Cet Mar'cte had thrown them in their cell. They had asked every new prisoner if they had seen or heard anything about her, but none had. Likewise none of them had seen Matriarch Seva'Vesh the Depraved. She and Ja'anya seemed to have disappeared at the same time. They would try to ask the guards about both Ja'anya and Seva'Vesh, but were usually ignored or antagonized for asking questions. He let out an exhausted sigh.

"Kra'vyx?" he turned to look at Yahto sitting in the center of the cell cross legged, hands resting on his knees looking up at him like an obedient pup receiving lessons from a tutor. That was sort of the situation, but there was more than that going on in Kra'vyx mind. He had very high respect for Yahto as a superior warrior and this superior skill as a warrior would have earned Yahto a very high rank in their society. However, his friend was still considered 'primitive' by that same society's standards because he lacked the understanding of its culture and customs. The whole situation left Kra'vyx feeling confused.

Someone of Yahto's skill sitting on the floor with him standing above would have been seen as a sigh of great disrespect to a superior warrior. Also the amount of direct eye contact they made was completely against their culture. Yahto brokenly commented or asked how could he be able to learn if he could not see the knowledge in Kra'vyx's eyes. If Kra'vyx continued to look away, Yahto would not learn the knowledge Kra'vyx's eyes contained. Yahto treated Kra'vyx like an equal, like a friend; a brother even.

"Everything is fine Yahto, let's continue," Kra'vyx said pushing his internal thoughts aside.

"O'kay!"

"So the phrase 'In danger, a hunter must be composed' what do you think that means?"

"Hm," Kra'vyx kept himself from chuckling at how expressive Yahto could be. After, he had asked the question Yahto went into his thinking pose. His left arm crossed over his stomach to clutch the elbow of his right. His right hand would cradle his jaw with his pointer finger tapping his chin. His brow would scrunch together as he concentrated on thinking of an answer. Then concentrate even more about how to express that answer in the new language he was learning.

"WheN in dang-eRrr, a hunt-er must be sm-aRt. MusT not pan-hic. When in dang-er, a hunt-er f-eels feaRrrr, feaR make-ksss hunter panic, make hunt-er noT smart, make hunt-er be K-illed. In danG-er, be calm, be smarT, be not aF-raid, be com-po-sed."

"A hunter must be composed, that is correct," Kra'vyx continued to be amazed at his friend's ability to learn. Yahto's intelligence was quite remarkable, learning words and their meanings usually within a few minutes. When they had started it had only taken a few hours for Yahto to memorize the Yautja alphabet and the sounds associated with each symbol. From there the knowledge and understanding Yahto absorbed continued to increase exponentially. The only limitation seemed to be his physical ability to mimic the sounds of the Yautja language.

"Ready for another one?" Kra'vyx asked sitting down in front of Yahto on the floor.

"Yes!" Yahto happily chirped.

"Okay, repeat after me."

"O-Kay, Ree-peaT aft-rrr Kra'vyx."

"*chuckle* A sword is only as strong as its wielder."

"A s-ward IS Own-ly asss-"

*CLUCK-cluck, hiss*

Both Yahto and Kra'vyx stood up straight at the sound of the prison entrance opening. In unison they pressed themselves against their cell's bars to look down the hall.

"Move."

"*grunt*"

There were the sounds of multiple footsteps coming from down the hall. Usually when the guards served meals there was only one. The only time when there were more was when they were escorting a new prisoner. The footsteps came closer and closer. Kra'vyx had to stifle a gasp when he saw the newest prisoner; an Arbitrator.

Arbitrators were the elite of the elite in Yautja society. Most of them usually held the rank of Ancient or Elder in their respective clan. Having survived thousands of hunts and had lived over hundreds of years. They were the most disciplined of Yautja warriors.

Either through their sense of duty or having grown tired of the traditional hunt these Elders now turned their attention to a different type of hunt when they became Arbitrators. The hunting of criminals. Arbitrators were given the power of judge, jury and executioner in their quest to hunt down the criminal element of their society. Better referred to as the bad-bloods.

This male Arbitrator was given the honor to still wear his decorated armor. The markings and symbols of accomplishments engraved on the armor as well as the numerous rings adorning his long hair tendrils helped Kra'vyx confirm this warrior was indeed an Arbitrator. The bad-bloods had of course confiscated all of his weapons and equipment. Even without his armaments the warrior was an impressive sight.

The Arbitrator stood tall with confidence, even though he was surrounded by eight of the meanest bad-bloods Kra'vyx had ever seen. His head was held high with dignity, even though he was captured by the likes of these criminals. His eyes were showing no emotions as he continued to walk forward.

Kra'vyx was in awed silence in being in the presences of such an elite member of their society.

"Hello!" a voice cheerfully greeted. In a wide eyed panic Kra'vyx whirled around to look at his cell mate who had just spoken in such disrespect to this honored one.

Yahto's greeting seemed to earn the attention of the Arbitrator as his head turned to look at who had spoken. The Arbitrator's eyebrows rose in surprise at seeing the alien creature within the cell. He continued to look at him in confusion until he walked past them.

"In here," one of the bad-blood guards opened a cell door, diagonally across the hall from Kra'vyx and Yahto's. The Arbitrator willingly walked into his cell and turned around to watch the cell door slam shut. Now done with their assignment the eight bad-blood guards returned to their formation and left the prison block.

"Are-are you Arbitrator Cho'taw of the Adigashii Clan?" one of the other prisoners asked once the bad-bloods had left and closed the door.

"I am," the Arbitrator responded, Kra'vyx eyes widened when he heard this. Cho'taw was one of the most renowned Arbitrators in recent times. He had been responsible for hundreds of notorious bad-bloods meeting their demise.

"I mean no offence honored one, but with your reputation, how did you get captured?" someone asked.

"I was ambushed," Cho'taw admitted with a sigh, clearly very disappointed in himself. "I was passing through this sector when my ship was suddenly struck with an electromagnetic pulse beam weapon. The weapon was powerful enough to shut down all of my ship's systems and even the technology on my person. These bad-bloods fired the weapon whilst their ship's cloaking field was engaged so I did not know what was going on until I heard them cutting through my airlock."

"Then," Cho'taw growled bitterly, "when they boarded my ship they did not fight honorably. I tried to out maneuver them, catch them off guard, flank them, but they were too well organized. Their coordination showed they had dealt with lone Arbitrators and Elders before. They cornered me, and then used an overwhelming amount of stun grenades and long range weapons. Even sacrificing their own to subdue me."

Silence followed as Cho'taw finished his short tale.

"Tell me," Cho'taw finally began to speak again. "Do any of you know who is commanding this ship?"

"Matriarch Seva'Vesh the Depraved, honored one," Kra'vyx stated.

"Hm," Cho'taw's face scrunched into a frown as the considered this new information.

"Ja'anya, did Chow'Twow see Ja'anya?" Yahto suddenly asked.

"Pardon?"

"Forgive my friend here," Kra'vyx said motioning to Yahto, "he is just beginning to learn to speak our tongue. What he would like to say is that there was a third member in our party when we were captured, Ja'anya. She was taken somewhere else on this ship, did you see her at all when you were brought here?"

"No I did not," Cho'taw answered looking curiously at Yahto. "Tell me how did this creature come to be here?"

"Ja'anya, myself and a small group of other unblooded were heading to perform our Kainde Amedha Chiva. We were shot down over a back water planet where we were hunted by a party of bad-bloods. Before the bad-bloods could finish off Ja'anya and myself, this native intervened. Yahto saved us by killing the remaining bad-bloods, then decided to follow us when we attempted to escape in a bad-blood shuttle."

"Unfortunately, that escaped did not go as planned. Yahto was able to resist being captured and killed three more bad-bloods, but Seva'Vesh personally subdued him with trickery. Afterwards, we were brought here and Ja'anya was taken elsewhere. I fear she may be in the company of Matriarch Seva'Vesh."

"He's delusional, because there is no way that savage could do something like that," the disgruntled neighbors voiced.

"Do not write the tale off so quickly," Cho'taw chastised seriously. "In my travels I've seen a few primitive species produce quite remarkable warriors. I've even hunted a few of them, and they gave me more of a challenge than I had originally anticipated. Do not underestimate their skill just because they are not Y-"

*CLUCK-cluck, hiss*

The conversation halted when they heard the prison entrance open. The sound of multiple footsteps could be heard from coming down the corridor, there were fewer footsteps this time. All of the prisoners stood by the entrance of their cells looking down the hall to see who it was. The feeling of oppression soon fell on the group as three figures came into view.

Seva'Vesh herself escorted by two guards flanking her on either side. The bad-blood guards were nothing special, wearing the same armor as every other guard on the ship. These two however did have their armor slightly decorated with trophies signifying they were of slightly higher rank than the guards they normally saw. The Matriarch though was wearing something completely jaw dropping and contradictory from what would have been expected from the fearsome female as she promenaded down the hallway.

Instead of her armor she wore a thin short sleeved robe that billowed behind her with the hem just floating above the floor as she sauntered forward. The robe's opening was clasped together just above the navel by a single button decorated with jewels. The top of her robe had a 'V' opening that tightly clung to her torso, barely containing her large breasts as they bounced with every step. Whilst the bottom was free flowing and open, showing off her long powerful legs with each step she took forward. To complete her attire she wore thin string around her waist holding a scrap of cloth daintily draped over her groin.

For Yahto, Seva'Vesh's appearance was even more jaw dropping since he could see color. The light reflected off of the robe making it appear to be fashioned from dragonfly wings. The almost clear membrane refracted the light into every color of the rainbow, giving the robe an almost 'angelic' appearance. However, it was a solid material that moved like silk or fine linen.

How a demonic monster like Seva'Vesh scantily dressed appear could be so angelic, momentarily befuddled the minds of the imprisoned males.

"High Arbitrator Cho'taw of the Adigashii Clan, it is quite a delight to meet a warrior of your caliber," Matriarch Seva'Vesh greeted when she stopped to regard him in his cell.

"Matriarch Seva'Vesh, it is unfortunately slightly less of a pleasure to meet one of your standing," Cho'taw responded.

"You're shorter than I imagined."

"I've noticed that I'm shrinking the older I'm getting," Cho'taw said very casually. The rest of the prisoners were utterly confused about his tone. It was as if he was talking about the weather with an old friend. Seva'Vesh hummed seemingly accepting the 'casual' conversation.

"What are you doing in this sector dear Arbitrator Cho'taw? So far from home. You weren't looking for me were you?" The way Seva'Vesh giggled like a little female with a crush was one of the most disturbing things the young prisoners had ever heard. Cho'taw's thoughtful expression didn't change, as if this sort of thing happened to him all the time.

"I was not looking for you," Cho'taw politely responded. "I was simply traveling from one place to another when our paths crossed."

"I'm glad that our paths have crossed," she said with a seductive purr. "I have need of a male of your skill and status to make things more interesting on this dull voyage home."

"I'm sorry but I'm not very compliant at being someone's entertainment," the threatening undertone in Cho'taw's voice took this conversation in a dangerous direction.

"All the more fun," the Matriarch purred back stepping closer to the bars of Cho'taw's cell. "You see, if you are concerned about the well-being of these pups," she made a motion to indicate his fellow prisoners, "then you will play my game."

"What is your game?" He growled back, his face slowly shifting into a scowl. This reaction seemed to please her as her purring grew louder.

"You see," Seva'Vesh began in a sweet, seductive tone as she pressed herself against the bars of Cho'taw's cell. "I've been merciful to these whelps since I've been giving them free food. Now they have someone who can earn it for them."

"How?" he softly asked in smoldering anger.

"The crew of this ship are in the need of some combat practice. You will be giving them that practice. For every opponent you defeat one meal will be earned. Yet, if you permanently cripple one of mine, I maim one of yours; if you kill one of mine, I kill one of yours," she grinned happily.

"I understand there is another 'pup' on board this ship as your guest. Will she be involved in the game as well?"

"For now she will be excused from this little game. She is currently receiving far better treatment as my private guest than what these whelps are getting in this dreary prison."

"Is she well?" Cho'taw probed.

"She is in good health," Kra'vyx let out a sigh of relief now knowing that Ja'anya was currently in good health. Hopefully his definition of 'good health' was the same as Seva'Vesh's definition. He unfortunately doubted that. Ja'anya was probably not at risk of dying, but she was definitely not in the same 'condition' he had seen her last.

"So, do we have a deal?"

"Very well," Cho'taw reluctantly agreed.

"Wonderful," she sang happily moving away from Cho'taw's cell. "Guards see that everyone is safely transported to the fighting arena cells."

"Of course Matriarch," one of the guards responded bowing low to her instruction. Now finished with her business she turned to leave walking past the occupied prison cells back towards the exit.

Then a voice spoke, just above a whisper…

"…SheevA'VEsh is sexy hoT fem-ale…"

The prison block became deathly silent. Even the ship seemed to silence itself as the normal thrum of the engines and creaks from the bulkheads became absent. Nobody made a sound as they all slowly turned towards the source of the voice.

The source of this voice looked around at everyone with a quizzically raised eyebrow.

"Wha-T?" Yahto asked still looking to anyone for an explanation.

Seva'Vesh had slowly turned completely around then began to leisurely walk towards the cell containing the creature who had spoken. She halted, standing in front of said cell as she looked down at the shorter creature with a smoldering gaze, her mandibles were tightly clenched together. Yahto didn't seem to understand the situation, and opted to look directly into her eyes. A few seconds into the staring contest Yahto blinked and tilted his head to continue looking at her in a curious manner.

"What did you say?" Seva'Vesh asked nicely. Everyone could feel the stabbing cold and the sharp shards of ice from that nicely asked question. Everyone, except for the person that question was directed towards.

"Se-Va'Vesh. Is. Sex-y. Hot. Female," Yahto said slowly to insure he pronounced each word correctly and as eloquently as he could to impress the tall female standing before him.

The guards and the other prisoners' jaws dropped at the foolishness that this creature had to repeat such a thing.

Kra'vyx was literally sweating as if he was standing inside a volcano. This was bad! Very, very, very bad! He needed to stop this, whatever this was, from happening. What the Pauk was Yahto doing?!

"Oh?" Seva'Vesh responded stepping closer to the cell containing Yahto. Her voice losing its icy edge for a smooth, soothing and gentle tone. "And for what reasons do you think I'm a 'sexy hot female'?"

'_Don't say anything, don't say anything, Paya Please! Don't. Say. Anything!"_ Kra'vyx quietly thought and prayed fervently. And Paya answered his prayers, Yahto didn't say anything. Instead…

To answer her question he placed his hands in front of him with his palms open, fingers extended and together, palms open facing towards each other, separated about the width of his shoulders. Then moved his hands straight downward for a short distance, then curved inward and then curved back out. Yahto saw Seva'Vesh's features scrunch in confusion.

So in a similar manner Yahto placed his hands on either side of his ribcage, moved the downward, then exaggerated the curve inward when he got to his waist and then curved back out when he reached his hips. He brought his hands back up to the same position he had done it the first time. Though this time did it as if he was pointing at Seva'Vesh. From his perspective then traced out her torso, hour glass waist and wide hips.

'_Nonononononononono!'_

Then to put the last nail in Yahto's coffin he moved his hands in front of his chest, palms facing towards himself. The spreading his fingers wide, he slowly squeezed two invisible breasts; several times.

'_PAAAAAUUUUUK!'_ Kra'vyx wanted to face palm himself; hard.

"You think I have a 'sexy hot' body?" she asked after understanding what Yahto was trying to say with their game of charades. Yahto nodded enthusiastically while grinning like a maniac.

She stepped closer to the cell's bars, now just a hair away from touching the outside of the metal barrier. Yahto mimicked her without any sign of hesitation or fear, now standing just a hair away from touching the inside of the metal barrier. Their proximity and difference in height caused them both to gaze between the valley of Seva'Vesh's breasts to maintain eye contact.

"And what would you like to do to this 'sexy hot' female?" Seva'Vesh seductively asked with a purr.

'_Stopstopstopstopstopstop!'_

Bringing up his left hand he press the tips of his thumb and pointer finger together to make a circle. Bring up his right hand he extended his middle finger and folded his other fingers into his palm. Positioning his extended middle finger in front of and center of the circles opening…he then moved his middle finger in and out through the center of the circle, forward and backward like a piston.

'_IwannadieIwannadieIwannadie!'_

"Oh, and what does that mean?" Seva'Vesh clearly understood what this lude gesture meant. She was greatly amused by Yahto's actions, curious even to what he would do next if encouraged. Yahto pondered her question a moment before coming to a solution to get his thought across.

*THUMP!* *THUMP!*

Seva'Vesh couldn't help but let out an amused giggle as Yahto nonverbally answered her question. Holding onto a prison cell bars he proceeded to hump the metal barrier. His lion cloth flapping between his thighs with every thrust of his hips as he demonstrated what he would do to Seva'Vesh.

*THUMP!* "YELP!"

Without warning Seva'Vesh swiftly dropped to eye level with Yahto and reached one hand through the cell's bars to grip his stones and pillar. There was an immediate reaction from rest of them males watching as they cringed and instinctively covered their own family jewels. Seva'Vesh gave a not too gentle squeeze to the contents in her hand to properly evaluate their size. She was silently impressed by his endowment for a male of his short stature. During all of this she had not broken eye contact was even more enthralled by his reaction.

He had initially flinched from being caught off guard and the initial pain when she grabbed him. After recovering though Yahto's eyes went wide in excitement and his lips spread in a wide smile. She gave him a slow tight squeeze that only excited him further. The glee in his eyes gleamed brighter and his phallus was rapidly expanding.

"You're a little small," Seva'Vesh stated rolling her finger around his package.

"Yahto, knowS How to m-ake Sheeva'VEsh happy."

"*HISS*" in an unexpected and daring move Yahto's hands shot forward to forcefully grasp both of her firm breasts. He massaged the globes as his fingers searched out for her nipples. Once found he traced small circles around the nubs hidden beneath the fabric of her robe. He could feel the nubs growing more erect as they became more visible bumps. Taking his thumbs Yahto placed them atop of these bumps and began to rapidly flick them back and forth whilst massaging her globes with the rest of his fingers.

"Is seXY hoT fem-ale haPpy?" Yahto's ego was stroked when Seva'Vesh let out a haggard breath.

"Maybe later," with a flurry of her robe Seva'Vesh disengaged and exited the prison. The guards took a few minutes to come out of their dazed shock before they went to get more guards to help transfer the prisoners to the fighting arena cells. The prisoners took a minute longer before one of them commented on what had just happened.

"…did the savage just 'hit' on Seva'Vesh the Depraved?" a prisoner asked in disbelief, confusion and disgust.

"Yeah, I…I-I think so?" Kra'vyx said confused and terrified, looking at his cell mate in utter disbelief.

"What a disgusting species," their disgruntle neighbor voiced. "To think of mating with a monster like Seva'Vesh."

"NoT dis-gusT-ing," Yahto replied brokenly. "She-va'Veesh kill-er, dan-ger-us. Yahto sTay inter-esting, noT bore-ing. Yahto stAye alive if stay inter-esting."

"Your primitive friend has either one of the smartest plans possible or one of the stupidest," Arbitrator Cho'taw chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"He intends to use Seva'Vesh's '_depraved_' curiosity to his advantage in the hopes that it will keep him alive longer. By keeping her entertained, she will not be so hasty to end his life," Cho'taw explained.

"Yes, yes, that Yahto's plan," Yahto nodded pleased that someone understood his idea. "Sheva-Vesh still hot, not mind mating."

"If she wasn't a homicidal psychopath I would find her at least _physically_ attractive," Cho'taw admitted.

"With all due respect Arbitrator, you're as crazy as the savage," one of the neighbors said in disbelief.

"When you get to be my age, your perspective and attitude on things changes. You are more open to 'crazy' ideas," Cho'taw explained.

* * *

"_Cho'taw is certainly right about that,_" Yahto thought to himself._ "Your beliefs change as you get older and gain more experience. It is also important to hold onto your values and remain true to yourself, as you grow old. And while I like to think of myself as a marry one and done; immortality kind of screws over that concept, big time. Forty thousand year old dry spell…yeah, that didn't happen. I did not have any affairs during any of my marriages, so I was faithful to the ideals of marriage. And since I'm not currently married, I'm all in favor of whoring myself out to make sure everyone gets out of here alive."_

He was only slightly amazed by his own actions. It was his intention to make hot-mama-croc Seva'Vesh interested in him. Then hopefully that interest would keep him alive or kill him first. It was kind of a 'complicated-not-complicated' plan. Both plans began with him being let out of his cell, after that his plan diverged into two separate ideas.

The first, continue acting like an uneducated and uncultured savage. Then when they underestimated him and dropped their guard; be sneaky, rescue everyone, find an escape vessel and get the hell out of here.

The second, was a little more 'painful' on his part. After being let out of his cell he needed to get himself 'killed'. He would then surprise the fuck out of everyone we he suddenly came back to life whilst being served as dinner. In shock of dinner suddenly being resurrected, the bad-bloods would run around in a panic, during which they would undoubtedly drop their guard. He would then rescue everyone, find an escape vessel and get the hell out of here.

And if he was extra lucky he might get some extra-terrestrial hot-mama-croc Seva'Vesh action somewhere along the way. _"I wonder if these alien females have g-spots. NO Yahto, Bad Yahto! Yes, you've had about a four hundred year dry spell, but that does not excuse you from lowering your standards to an alien psychopath. Rule number 560: Do not stick dick in crazy pussy."_

He was still a little 'iffy' on the 'rescue everyone, find an escape vessel and get the hell out of here part of both plans. Also his plans seemed too simple for either of them to work. Then again, if he made them too complicated everything would go wrong and ultimately would fail. He was counting on his millennia of experience and proficiency at 'winging it' to see him through to success.

However, he was all in favor of stacking the deck in his favor. Which is why…

"Kra'vyx," Yahto's cellmate turned to regard him questioningly. "You tea-CH Yahto speak like Kra'vyx. Yahto will Teach Kra'vyx to fighT like Yahto."

* * *

"_That was pleasantly un-expected,"_ Seva'Vesh thought as the door to the prison block closed behind her. That creature had caught her completely off guard by how brash it acted. Her breasts still tingled in pleasure from his ministrations. She literally thought if she had let him out of its cell they would have mated right then and there. This sort of behavior about his species was not mentioned in the ship's database.

When the creature had first arrived on the ship she had ordered one of the crew members to search through the ship's database to identify the creature. Surprisingly there was a perfect match to a species called Oomans. The information presented to her about Oomans was very basic and took her less than an hour to read. Location of their home world, biology, current level of technology, known encounters, which Clans currently held hunting permits on the species, recommended recipes for cooking and eating them. The information was at least a few centuries old, so some of it was probably outdated.

However, the species sexual behavior was not explained. Biologically speaking they functioned much like her own species when it came to reproduction. She remembered seeing a visual diagram showing the physical differences between Ooman males and females. What was amazing was how strikingly similar their two species were, almost as if they were compatible with one another.

Pushing that thought aside for now Seva'Vesh began to view the primitive's recent behavior through the lens of her currently constructed theory about the creature. The Ooman male, was only remaining survivor of a crash landing. Since the Ooman had lived the majority of his life alone without society to shape his behavior he had defaulted to a more primeval nature. When he encountered her in the prison he responded to her physical appearance. Seva'Vesh supposed that the Ooman male considered her 'attractive' due to what he considered desirable physical traits. Primarily her large breasts, wide hips and narrow waist if she understood his gestures correctly. Despite being a different species this attraction sparking his baser instincts to reproduce with her.

"Very interesting," she hummed to herself. No sane male would dare approach her with the proposition of mating. Her violent and bloody reputation definitely discouraged males from taking action to court her. To fulfill her needs she usually had to drag a male kicking and screaming to her bed chambers where she would gag and bind them. With her expertise in biochemistry she had created a certain aphrodisiac cocktail that made her male, or female, victims more cooperative.

A willing partner would definitely be a change of pace from what she was normally used to. She also wouldn't have to worry about the negative side effects caused by her aphrodisiac cocktail. A shiver of desire went through her when she thought back to her encounter with the Ooman male.

"He certainly made an impression," she said with a hearty chuckle when she made it back to her 'special laboratory'.

"*moan*."

"It's alright sweetheart. I'm here, I'm here," Seva'Vesh whispered to the sleeping Ja'anya curled in a fetal position in her bed. She tenderly stroked the younger female's back, hoping to sooth her. It seemed to work as Ja'anya stopped moaning in her sleep. Seva'Vesh looked at the data pad monitoring Ja'anya's vitals.

Her little experiment seemed to progressing well from what she read on the data pad. Ja'anya's body had accepted the hormone treatment she had applied and was now rapidly developing. Seva'Vesh was so fortunate to have such a genetic specimen like Ja'anya. A member of the Nrak'ytara In'ga Clan, and even more exciting a member of the Yeyind'nrak family. Seva'Vesh grinned happily as she updated her medical report with the physical changes Ja'anya was displaying.

Taking note of Ja'anya's physical changes she could not deny she was far more attractive now than when they had first met. Her flat chest had now blossomed, her facial features became more mature and her body was far more developed. She would drive so many males mad with desire just by her appearance alone.

Seva'Vesh blinked when a thought occurred to her. Ja'anya would drive so many males mad with desire just by her appearance alone; even males of a certain alien species. An idea began to form inside her mind, an idea that would certainly maintain her title of Depraved.

Perhaps that Ooman's skull would earn a place on her trophy wall, now for completely different reasons than the first time she had considered it. Who knows, if it impressed her enough maybe she would keep it alive as a pet. Her possible pet would have to prove himself if it were to mate with her. Ja'anya would certainly prove to be a good 'test run'.

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**Definitions:**

**Lilka - Goddess of the home, hearth, health, healing, love, and life. She is mostly kind, caring, and gentle, but can be stern when needed. Unlike her Lifemate/Husband (Cetanu) she can be very forgiving as well.**

**Pauk – F**k**

**kiandi amedha – hard meat, xenomorph**

**Kainde Amedha Chiva - hard meat hunt**

**Nrak'ytara In'ga Clan– Guardian of Time Clan (Ja'anya's Clan name)**

**Yeyind'nrak - Brave Guard (Ja'anya's family name)**

**Cetanu – God of Death, the Black Warrior. He is the EPITOME of skill, strength, power, speed, honor, and determination. He represents EVERYTHING that a Warrior tries to emulate. Also known as The Dark Hunter; in this guise, he is the Yautja version of the Grim Reaper, or the Angel of Death. He collects the souls of those who have died and judges them. Those who have honor are welcomed to his realm which is very similar to the Viking's Valhalla. Feasting, fighting, and hunting for eternity.**

**Paya – the plural for All the gods, the pantheon of gods and goddesses.**

**Cet Mar'cte Clan – Black Killer Clan. The Bad-Blood Clan that hunted Ja'anya, Kra'vyx and their friends.**

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**A/N: Reader, thank you again for joining me, to all of you who are following this story and have who have left comments. Your feedback continues to encourage me to write this story so please continue to do so. A special thanks to Khalthar for beta-reading and reviewing this chapter before I published.**

**Don't miss the next couple of chapters Readers, it's about to get real interesting. Until then, please remember to comment, Peace.**

**-Saber**


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